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| Personnel... | ||||
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As
mentioned earlier Stan Francis was the first member of the Fire Police
in the area having been sworn in on 21 October 1957. He was later promoted
to the rank of Sub-Officer and later again to Lieutenant in charge of
the Newlands Squad. On the formation of the Brigade he was made Officer
in Charge with the rank of Station Officer.
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Under
the Fire Service Commission the Officer in Charge post became that of
District Officer with the rank of Senior Station Officer. Stan retired
in May 1988 and became the first member of the Brigade to be awarded the
Queen's Fire Service Medal - a fitting reward for the years of dedicated
service he rendered to the Fire Service in Newlands.
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Currently
there is only one Foundation member of the Brigade still serving, and
that is Bill Bambery who transferred back from the Rotorua Brigade. Other
foundation members were Cliff Latham who transferred to Fiji in his position
as an Air Traffic Controller after six years in the Brigade. Ken Mills
was promoted to the vacancy of Station Officer created by Cliff s resignation
and continued his service until he retired in 1985 when he shifted to
Waikanae. Ken was Secretary of the Brigade for many years. Tony Robinson
retired in May 1991 with the rank of Station Officer. Doug Brewer, the
first Secretary of the Brigade, resigned after three years to take up
other interests. Ian Irving and Barry Stimpson served sixteen and eighteen
years respectively before having to leave for reasons of health. Em Wallace
put in three and a half years before shifting to Hawkes Bay. Bill Bambery
transferred to the volunteer section of the Rotorua Brigade and, as mentioned
earlier, has since transferred back. Other members have come and gone
over the years and a full list of members appears later.
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Some members found the excitement got to them to the extent they joined the permanent fire service. They were: |
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| Members with service in other Brigades before joining Newlands were: | ||||
| R J Nordell - Johnsonville Brigade | ||||
| Don Smith - Wellington and Lower Hutt Brigades | ||||
| Neil Smith - Wellington and Lower Hutt Brigades | ||||
| Robert Cook - Wellington Brigade | ||||
| Alex Robertson - Picton and Kumara Brigades | ||||
| Les Boyd - Devonport Brigade | ||||
| Dave Muir - Templeview and Porirua Brigades | ||||
| Alan De La Mare - Oxford and Mitsubishi Industrial Brigades | ||||
| Robin Kellett - Gisborne Brigade | ||||
| David Harris - Gisborne Brigade | ||||
| John Hughes - Foxton Beach Brigade | ||||
| Kevin Murphy - Wairoa Brigade | ||||
| Tony Swain - Wellington Fire Police and New Plymouth Brigade | ||||
| Frank Simpson - Wainuiomata and Wellington Brigades | ||||
| Russell Cook - a number of other Brigades | ||||
| Dean Tutton - Wellington Fire Police, Wellington City Rural Fire Force | ||||
| Nigel Le Grice - Rarangi Rural, Picton VFB, Johnsonville VFB | ||||
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Families
have featured in the history of the Newlands Brigade over the years. Don
and Neil Smith grew up in the Wellington Brigade where their father was
a Station Officer. Stan Francis' brother was a member of the Fire Police
and was employed as a Control Room Supervisor. Their brother-in-law Eric
also worked in the Control Room. Stan's son, Ralph, is currently a Station
Officer in the Newlands Brigade while sons-in-law, Barry King and Trevor
Gatfield, were also firefighters with Newlands. Brothers-in-law who have
also served are Tony Swain and Dave Joseph, and Peter O'More and Walter
Smith.
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