The Christchurch Connection by Gordon Spence

 

While I spent three years with the Antarctic Support Force, TF 43, my time on the ice was limited, very limited. Through no fault of my own, I was assigned to Detachment Delta, located in, you guessed it, Christchurch, NZ. Once I had orders to Christchurch, there, there was no small number of shipmates who commented on what a lucky SOB that I was. Well, I may agree that I might be an SOB, but at the time, I didn't know how lucky I was.

When this all started, I was working as the supply officer at the 21STNCR in Davisville, RI. It all started with a phone call in June of 1969 from my detailer, Lt Dave Black. When I took the call, I recalled that my first comment was "is this the same Lt Black who detailed me to RVN?" He admitted it was but this time he had good news. Unfamiliar as I was with the detailing process, I was still suspicious. I was still a year from my proposed rotation date. "What's up?"

"How would you like orders to Christchurch, NZ?"

"I dunno, never heard of the place."

"Christchurch is a great place. Most JOs would kill for this assignment."

I was cagey. I didn't want to commit to anything that the detailer was selling. "When do you want to know?" 

"I'd like to know right now but I have to hear from you by tomorrow.”

"My wife is six months pregnant.”

"She'll love it. They've got a great health care system.”

"I'll call you in the AM.”

I left the office early that afternoon and went home to discuss the opportunity with my wife. She too was unfamiliar with Christchurch. Visions of a rough construction camp filled my mind. We went over to the local library in Wickford, a really. picturesque resort area on the Narragansett Bay.  For those of you who haven't been to Davisville, it was the home of COMCBLANT, the Antarctic Support Force, the 21STNCR. and Quonset Point, home base for VXE-6. For you newbies, VXE-6 flew all the Navy aircraft on the ice. In 1969, in addition to the three C-130's, they were still flying two C-121 Constellations to the ice. The library was small, so small that the only information I could find on New Zealand was an old National Geographics magazine which fortunately featured a story about Christchurch.  It was a splendid article which played up the old English ties with the cathedral, the Avon River winding through town and its private schools based on the English system. Well, this looked promising and we agreed that New Zealand would be a fine place to have our next tour and our first baby.

 

"Fine, you'll have to report in two weeks!"

A quick visit to the COS for the regiment, Cdr P Oliver Jr, telling him he could expect to get a call from the detailer. He already had received the call. He was excited for me but wanted to be assured that my supply matters could be turned over before I left. Not so easy, but that's another story, or, rather, stories. We spent the next weekend with my folks on Cape Cod and then we were off to visit the in-laws in Louisville. Back then there wasn't as much information or coordination as there is today when transferring to a new duty station. I was smart enough to get an advance payment on my travel orders but not much else. They said I could bring my car with me but I'd have to deliver it to San Francisco. Somehow we managed that and found our way to the airport for a commercial flight to our first stop, which was orientation with OICC Pacific. (Officer in Charge of Construction, Pacific). Here I learned that in addition to my duties as Public Works Officer at Christchurch I would also be responsible for the construction of an USAF satellite tracking station. Wow.

So we spent four days at Honolulu. Clever me, I arranged to be in Hawaii over a weekend. We settled in at the Ft Derussey quarters on Waikiki Beach. While it was pleasant my wife was uncomfortable in the heat and we confined our time to a quick self guided tour of the island and lounging around the hotel and its magnificent beach. My instructions in contract and public works management essentially consisted of the philosophy of "don't do anything stupid.”  Hey, I was a young Naval officer recently back from RVN. I knew I could handle it.

Back on our 707 we flew to the Fiji Islands for a refueling stop. While we could see the lovely blue waters surrounding the airport, we stayed on the plane. Soon-or not so soon- we arrived at Auckland, NZ. Our connecting flight to Christchurch was the next day. Our view of Auckland was a quick nighttime taxi ride to the motel. Lots of new sights and sounds but we were tired and just wanted to sleep.

So far so good. The next day we took a short hop on a NAC 737 to Christchurch. We were met by lieutenant Rob Rusek who I was relieving. He dropped us off at the White Heron motel. The infamous "dirty bird" known to everyone. Actually, not a bad place to stay but a little over priced and "Americanized" for the many tourists coming to Christchurch. He said he'd pick me up at 7:15 the next morning.

We settled in that night and again were happy to see that we had arrived in this new location to find that it was definitely civilized in every respect-except they drove on the wrong side of the road. We found the food simple but very fresh. The trip to our "headquarters "was short as it was less than a quarter of a mile away. There was no sign or recognition that this was a US Naval facility as the intent was to keep a low profile as our mission was solely to support USARP. Shortly I met the OIC, Cdr Gordon Lightsey, his secretary, the admin officer, Captain McDonald USA and his staff YN. I met the telephone operator who I learned worked for me. Then we crossed the parking lot to our building where I met the public works staff.

Desmond (Des) Dungan was to be my assistant. He was a real gentleman and I'm sure could have run the public works function without any supervision. Kevin and Royce were our all around handy men. Mac, a recent import from Scotland, was our mechanic. AI was in charge of our utilities, mostly a small furnace. He was a recent emigrant from England where he had been a barber. Ruth was the secretary and quickly made it known that she felt she was in charge of our little department.

There was a small supply office which consisted of a LCDR supply officer and a LT who was the disbursing officer. They were assisted by four or five New Zealanders who were all quite helpful and competent. There was one SK2 who managed the warehouse. There were other NZ civilians on the staff. One coordinated our special services program and the other, actually a USARP employee, maintained a warehouse of clothing and equipment for the scientists heading to the ice. The special services consisted of setting up fishing trips and sightseeing tours for the sailors in transit. Some great opportunities for those who took advantage of them.

In addition to our detachment, there was a communications station on the other side of the airfield, VXE-6 had a detachment of one officer and 6 enlisted who were permanently located at Christchurch. The USAF also had a small detachment of 13 persons who coordinated matters for the twice weekly MAC flights as they made the circuit from Travis AFB to Perth, Australia. There was a second USAF detachment located about 100 miles south of us at Tlmaru. They manned the satellite tracking station that was under construction.

It was a very small detachment and while it was quiet in the austral winter from March to October, it got quite busy during the summer. Fortunately I had time to get settled into my new job and my new role as a father as our son was born in August. I still can't figure how we were able to get my wife on the plane and across the pacific when she was seven months pregnant. I can only imagine how hard it would have been for her if she had to stay behind and come down after our son was born.

I relieved Lt Rob Ruzek as PWO. My relationship with him was strained to say the least. He was quite sharp and liked to get involved with every aspect of the operation. He had trouble letting go of the daily operations. As I recall, he called the office the day he left with specific directions for Des Duncan. Finally he and his family boarded the plane and he left for civilian life back in the US of A. Very quickly it became apparent why he had become so involved with the daily operation of our facilities. There was a constant flow of problems as we attempted to maintain the facilities, all of which were left over from WWII. All leased from the NZ government. The only new facility was the public works facility. The combined officer and enlisted club was nice and featured a shuffleboard, and 25 cent drafts. The NEX was small and seldom open.

Once the season started it became apparent why we were there. While most of the action was on the ice, we were quite busy hosting the military as they arrived and spend a short period in Christchurch. There was a much lesser number of scientists and their needs were met using civilian facilities. The admiral and his staff had offices in the admin building albeit they were limited and cramped. We did
have the ability to communicate with the ice and CONUS.

Everyone wants a visit to the ice. This included every Civil Engineer Corps admiral. They all found a reason to visit the ice. We welcomed them as they were usually accompanied by high ranking politicians (think congressmen), influential civilians, and a few who actually had a need to be there and worked. When these official parties showed up, they often included an informal welcome and our little club was host to many who's who.

One particular arrival was noteworthy to me and this story has never been told before. RADM James Bartlette, Commander Naval Facilities Engineering Command arrived accompanied by Felix de Weldon, Captain Jack __, and their wives. Felix was an internationally known sculptor. Think The Marine Corps Memorial in Arlington and many more. The Seabees had recently engaged Felix to design and construct the Seabee memorial located at the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery. I had met the admiral and Captain __ in Vietnam. Just great officers and a pleasure to meet again. They were on their way to the Antarctic to review the projects under construction by CBMU 201. They also were looking at the possibility of commissioning Felix for another bust to be located on the ice. He had already sculpted the bust of RADM Richard Byrd located at McMurdo, Felix is probably the only sculptor with works on all seven continents. Everything went well from that end. Felix was a diminutive man but very lively. He had actually served with the Seabees in WWII and had a special affection for them. Seabees in turn took to Felix and he became "Uncle Felix" to the Seabees on the ice.

The disconnect on this trip came early. The admiral had been told that women were not allowed on the ice at that time. He had thoughts that he could perhaps finagle a way to get the ladies to accompany him. It was not to be They had to remain in Christchurch while the men were gone for 4-5 days. Admiral Welch, Commander, Antarctic Support Force, was quick to assuage their feelings and volunteered LT Spence and his wife to act as hosts during their time in Christchurch. "Great, I'm all in. I know several places that are quite nice. Of course, I found it hard to drag myself from my many duties in Chch, but I soldiered on.

Of course, we toured downtown Chch, went shopping, drove over to Lyttleton, Akarora, visited a sheep farm, had tea and crumpets. Pretty much all of what I had found of interest. The ladies seemed to enjoy their time in Chch.  Mrs. de Weldon seemed a little overbearing but I could deal with that, after all, I was a Naval officer. Mrs. de Weldon 's ire seemed to focus on the wife of the admiral's aid, Mrs __ . She was a real lady and maintained her composure in the presence of the other two. Soon we had word that the men would be returning from the ice. The ladies insisted on showing their appreciation to my wife and myself for the lovely time they had in our company. "Great, I'm all in. I know several nice places to eat."

"Oh no, we thought we could eat here at the White Heron".

 

“Oh”, I'm thinking. Not terrible but not great either. Mediocre food, high prices and a lousy wine list. "Sounds good. I'll let my wife know and we'll meet you there".

An early evening was planned. We met the ladies, they all dressed in their finest outfits which they had planned to wear while dining with their husbands. The dining room was formal with linen tablecloths. The service was fine and we had a lovely menu to choose from. various cuts of lamb, fresh fish, lobster were all good choices. I believe the ladies stuck with chicken and steaks, also excellent choices. Being the sole male at the table, I was expecting to be asked to select the wine.

Without prompting, Ms. __ volunteered that she thought that "a bottle of Blue Nun Liebfraumilch would be nice". That was exactly what I thought also. 

Or that's what I thought until Mrs. de Weldon spoke up. "Liebfraumilch!  Why on earth would you think that I would like Liebfraumilch?"

"But that's what you served at your house when you held the party before we left for New Zealand". stammered Ms. __ .

"Just because I served it at my home doesn't mean I enjoyed that wine" replied Mrs. de Weldon. "Gordon, what you recommend?"

This had to be one of those great make or break moments in your career. Somehow to agree with the wife of someone whose story will be fed back to her husband who could have influence over your future, agree with someone who is vile and disagreeable, or as I'm prone to do, select an alternate choice with the hope of pleasing everyone.

With that latter thought in mind, I tried to take road less traveled and come between the warring factions. "What I would recommend is that since we are in New Zealand, we should try a New Zealand wine". While my wife and I had been in New Zealand for two years, neither of were wine lovers, mostly we had been drinking wines we found at the base bottle store, Christian Brothers and Almadon.  Neither wine was particularly sophisticated but satisfactory to our palettes. The local wines were, at the time, rough and immature. Today., of course, the NZ wines have become more sophisticated and acknowledged as being somewhat noteworthy. So with no personal favorite I blundered on with a recommendation that we try a bottle of Cuvee Rouge. I later found out this was a blend of red and white wines. It can be both sophisticated or not. I had enjoyed this as it tasted somewhat akin to a carbonated Boone's Farm strawberry wine which I had enjoyed in college. After sampling the wine and giving my approval, the wine was served to all the ladies and  met with unanimous approval. So we finished the meal and waved to the ladies and their husbands as they boarded their fight back to the land of the big px.
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So, just another story of the spirit and necessity of maintaining a Naval presence in Christ Church, NZ.