Celebrating Our Heroes
The Navy’s policy of naming our major buildings after naval personnel who are exemplars of the Navy’s core values, has continued with the naming, late last year, of the Sanders Building in PHILOMEL, and of the new buildings at Whangaparaoa. Within the South Yard of the Naval Base the Navy now honours:
- Commander William Smith DSO (the Diving School and LWSG building)
- The two Commander Palmers—father and son (the RNZNVR Division HQ and the NPRC building), as well as
- LTCDR William Sanders VC.
The Sanders Building
PHILOMEL’s Administration building and Quarterdeck is now named for New Zealander LTCDR William Sanders VC, DSO, RNR, who won the VC while in command of HMS PRIZE during WWI. On 16 October, descendants of LTCDR Sanders gathered in PHILOMEL to hear CDRE Pepperell and CAPT McDougall describe the Navy’s decision to honour their ancestor, and to see the plaque naming the building. The dedication plaque was unveiled by Mr Eric Welch on behalf of the family.
The TAMAKI Leadership Centre
Meanwhile, the Whangaparaoa training facility has been renamed the TAMAKI Leadership Centre, with its three accommodation blocks also given appropriate names. Whangaparaoa is used for induction training and advanced leadership training; the name chosen for the complete site reflects the new focus of the facility and also links with our history—the former HMNZS TAMAKI, on Motuihe Island and later at Narrowneck.
The accommodation areas at the TAMAKI Leadership Centre have been given names representing our core values and a person from our history who exemplifies that value:
Dale Mess Deck (Courage)
An explosion in a fuel tank on board HMNZS ACHILLES at Portsmouth on 22 June 1943, killed 14 dockyard workers. Stoker First Class William Dale RNZNVR, of Timaru, tied a handkerchief over his mouth and went down three decks into a smoke-filled space where he found four injured men and passed them up to safety. Assisted by a British dockyard worker, Stoker Dale rescued two more men from the fuel tank itself. Dale was awarded the Albert Medal, the only member of the New Zealand Naval Forces to receive this rare decoration during WWII.
Robson Mess Deck (Comradeship)
The Reverend George Trevor Robson (known as ‘Padre Robbie’) was the first NZ-born Chaplain and his service in the New Zealand Naval Forces from 1927 to 1948, covered the formative years of both the NZ Division and the RNZN. He first enlisted in the Army as a Territorial Chaplain and was sent to France in the NZEF in 1917. He was awarded the Military Cross for working unceasingly among the wounded. In 1927 he entered the NZ Division and became the Base Chaplain of PHILOMEL, until he retired in 1948. It is said that Robbie knew every officer and rating who passed through PHILOMEL.
Herrick Mess Deck (Commitment)
Miss Ruth Herrick was appointed Director of the newly formed WRNZNS in 1942. She was required to build from scratch, and at short notice, a force capable of playing a fully effective part in the war effort of the RNZN. A member of a prominent Hastings family, she brought her experiences as a schoolteacher and also as the Chief Commissioner of the Girl Guides in NZ. The standards she laid down continued throughout the war and were adopted again when the WRNZNS were re-formed in 1947.
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