I was recently shown a postcard of the mine at Mokau. My father Bob H was a member of the Bomb Disposal Squad that dug it up (arrow).
You probably have a photo of it but I thought one more wouldn’t hurt.
I spent a lot of my childhood at Uruti but must confess I don’t miss watching pictures from the back of a truck outdoors.
Bye Patrick H
The letter and photo was then given to a local historian Ian Whittaker and a member of the Mokau Museum. Mr. Whittaker phoned Mr. Stan Warren to confirm what the photo was about. It was also believed that other mines were seen and that one of these mines exploded at Pio Pio Station, blowing out all of the windows at the homestead around 1914-18 (first word war).
The sea-mine washed up on 2nd
December 1942 on the southern side of the Mokau River Mouth. It was
found by a local man Mr. Povey. As The bomb Squad was unable to get to
Mokau that day, a 24 hour guard was placed around the sea-mine. Two
brothers got the job; Roy Warren was on guard from 12 noon to midnight
and his brother Stan Warren, worked from midnight to midday, the
following day. A joke between the brothers is that Roy was the
only brother to be paid for his days work.
The mine was almost coved in black sand, so the Bomb Disposal Squad had to dig it up by hand and disarm it. The sea-mine was said to be a German mine and it was washed overseas to New Zealand from Australia’s waters. Today Stan Warren let his 65 year old secret out; he understood that the sea-mine was one of our own. The empty sea-mine shell is now on display in the middle of Mokau Village.
