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Author Topic: Norwich City Stores  (Read 13240 times)

Don Dollinger

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Norwich City Stores
« on: July 14, 2011, 09:37:09 AM »

Has anything ever shown up to indicate that the P.I.S.S., local villagers, or anyone associated with Niku ever found the stores left behind by the Norwich City crew?  Did they indicate what was found?  Although it is not known what exactly was left by Norwich City it was indicated that there were some stores left behind.  http://tighar.org/wiki/Norwich_City_Survivors%27_Shelter.

Would think that would be something that would be noted in one of their reports as well as an inventory of what was recovered.

LTM,

Don

 
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Ric Gillespie

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Re: Norwich City Stores
« Reply #1 on: July 14, 2011, 09:58:40 AM »

Has anything ever shown up to indicate that the P.I.S.S., local villagers, or anyone associated with Niku ever found the stores left behind by the Norwich City crew?

Nope.
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Chris Johnson

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Re: Norwich City Stores
« Reply #2 on: July 14, 2011, 12:31:20 PM »

That the New Zealand survey team found and took a picture of one of the (supply dumps) camp tends to indicate that at least one (dump) camp was still on the island when the colonists arrived.

This is only a guess (don't send in the Spanish Inquasition) but if the stash had been found then the colonists would have just seen it as another resource to be exploited.  They may or may not have told the local magistrate who in turn may or may not have told Mr Gallagher.
« Last Edit: July 14, 2011, 02:15:58 PM by Chris Johnson »
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Ric Gillespie

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Re: Norwich City Stores
« Reply #3 on: July 14, 2011, 12:48:58 PM »

That the New Zealand survey team found and took a picture of one of the supply dumps tends to indicate that at least one dump was still on the island when the colonists arrived.

Supply dump?  The photo is captioned "survivor's camp."  Same thing?  Dunno.
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Chris Johnson

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Re: Norwich City Stores
« Reply #4 on: July 14, 2011, 01:06:22 PM »

That the New Zealand survey team found and took a picture of one of the supply dumps tends to indicate that at least one dump was still on the island when the colonists arrived.

Supply dump?  The photo is captioned "survivor's camp."  Same thing?  Dunno.

Brit speak i'm afraid :) yes for dump i mean camp.  It was a camp when they were there but became a supply dump for other unfortunate casterways when they left!
« Last Edit: July 14, 2011, 01:32:38 PM by Chris Johnson »
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Chris Johnson

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Re: Norwich City Stores
« Reply #5 on: July 15, 2011, 05:06:23 AM »

Chronology of known visits to Gardner Island after wreck of SS Norwich City
•   February 15, 1937, HMS Leith visited to erect a flagpole and placard proclaiming the island property of His Majesty the King.
•   July 2, 1937, Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan may have landed on the reef (posited).
•   October 13, 1937, Maude, Bevington and 19 Gilbertese “delegates” explored the island.
•   November 30, 1938, New Zealand Pacific Aviation Survey Expedition team of 15 men arrived.
•   December 21, 1938, Maude and Gallagher dropped off a work party of 10 Gilbertese settlers.

Photo taken by NZ Survey Expedition shows 1st Camp in state of disarray.  You would suppose then that at some time after the rescue of the SS Norwich Crew that the camp was disturbed by?

Sailors from HMS Leith looking for keepsakes
AE/FN caster ways looking for survival items
Other unknown visitors
Local fauna
Island colonists

Maude and Bevington make no mention of the first camp, does this mean that it has now disappeared into the jungle or that they just missed it?

Maude and Bevington do make reference to a sign of recent habitation that could be the remains of the other Norwich City camp(s) or possible Arundle workers planting.  In a TIGHAR interview these were described as low mounds.

http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Archives/Documents/Bevington_Diary.html

If the first work party found the camp or camps then with no presence of Maude or Gallagher then it may have missed official records.

http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_61_1952/Volume_61%2C_No._1_%2B_2/The_colonization_of_the_Phoenix_Islands%2C_by_H._E._Maude%2C_p_62-89/p1?page=0&action=searchresult&target=


Knowing the bureaucratic detail of the PISS operation it would be likely that had Gallagher been aware of the camp and its contents then there would have been an official report on its finding.
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Martin X. Moleski, SJ

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Re: Norwich City Stores
« Reply #6 on: July 15, 2011, 06:27:50 AM »

Chronology of known visits to Gardner Island after wreck of SS Norwich City ...

That's a handy reference.  I've copied it to the Niku History page and added the Bushnell Survey.
LTM,

           Marty
           TIGHAR #2359A
 
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Don Dollinger

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Re: Norwich City Stores
« Reply #7 on: July 15, 2011, 09:11:57 AM »

Excerps from Bevington's Dairy:
Quote
In the afternoon we got a canoe and Maude came in it, his lumbago being better, and I took him to all the points of special note I had visited the day before. It was a de luxe way of doing it, in a canoe gliding across the lagoon with natives paddling. We found many interesting things including signs of previous habitation.

How close was the first Norwich City camp to the Lagoon?  IMHO that does not seem to me to be the area that they noted "previous signs of habitation" as it was not near enough to the lagoon to see it from the canoe if it was in the trees.  What about the 7 site is it easily made out from the lagoon?

Quote
Kerosene had run out and we couldn’t have a light in camp to keep the coconut crabs off. Maude and I didn’t worry a patch as they don’t eat humans (!) though they are alarming to look at. However when we had turned in we found that the natives had made a complete ring round us with their mats and were sleeping round us in a ring to protect us – and this of their own accord.

This 2 item from the Bevington Dairy lead me to believe that if they saw the camp then they didn't think much of it and didn't stay there.  The Norwich City survivors memoirs read that they built a three sided walled deal to keep the crabs off and wouldn't need the natives to encircle them.

LTM,

Don
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