The Battle of Manners Street, Wellington, 1943

RIOTS

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington and Herbert Otto Roth, B.A., DIP.N.Z.L.S., Deputy Librarian, University of Auckland.

RIOTS

New Zealanders are, generally speaking, a law-abiding people. Unpopular regulations concerning drinking or gambling are frequently ignored, but disturbances of the peace are rare and the few riots which have occurred stand out prominently in our history. Popular fancy has dignified some of these incidents with the name of “battles”, but very little blood has been shed in New Zealand riots and few lives have been lost. The causes of these disturbances were religious at first, and in later years economic. No civilian riots have occurred in New Zealand since the depression of the thirties – a sign of the easing of economic and social tensions associated with the growth of the Welfare State.

The Battle of Addisons Flat, 1868

The so-called “Battle of Addisons Flat” took place on 3 April 1868. A month earlier, an Irish procession headed by a priest had broken into the Hokitika cemetery and had erected a Celtic cross in honour of three Fenians recently executed in Manchester. A similar but more peaceful demonstration took place in Westport on St. Patrick's Day. Soon afterwards, news arrived of an Irishman's attempt to assassinate the Duke of Edinburgh in Sydney. Fearing a Fenian uprising, the authorities concentrated troops in Hokitika, arrested the Irish leaders, and arraigned them on charges of riot and seditious libel. All were found guilty and sentenced to prison terms and fines. The outbreak at Addisons Flat, a predominantly Irish gold-miners' tent town 8 miles south of Westport, occurred when a party returned from Westport where they had celebrated the Duke's escape from the assassin's bullet. As they marched into Addisons Flat singing patriotic songs, they were met by a hail of stones from the assembled Irishmen and forced to retreat. During the next days Irishmen from the surrounding districts mustered in force at Addisons Flat fully expecting an attack by Government forces, while in Westport the loyalists vainly urged the authorities to allow them to march against the enemy. Thanks to the moderating influence of A. S. Kynnersley, the local warden, an armed clash was averted and the opposing forces never met.

In later years the story of the “Battle of Addisons Flat” has been much embroidered, but there is no reason to doubt Kynnersley's report that “all the wounds received did not require ten inches of sticking plaster, and all the property destroyed would be well paid by a ten pound note”.

The Timaru Orange Riots, 1879

The Timaru riots of 1879 were caused by the traditional hostility between Irish religious factions. The local Orange Lodge had announced its intention of joining a procession of friendly societies on Boxing Day. The landlord of the Hibernian Hotel arranged for Catholics from the district to come to Timaru that day to oppose the march. Police reinforcements were brought in from Christchurch but were unable to prevent the Orangemen from being besieged in the Foresters' Hall. A Magistrate read the Riot Act but the crowd did not disperse until after the Orangemen had taken off their regalia and had renounced their intention of marching through town.

While this riot took place in Timaru, with most of the Christchurch police in attendance, an Orange procession was attacked in Christchurch outside the Borough Hotel and several Orangemen were badly injured. Feeling was very tense in both towns during the next days. Police had to protect the Borough Hotel which angry crowds threatened to wreck, while Timaru was guarded by strong police and military forces brought in from Wellington and Dunedin.

There were no further serious incidents. Early in 1880, 14 of those involved in the Christchurch assault were sent to prison. The Timaru rioters, thanks to a vigorous defence by Robert (later Sir) Stout, escaped with being bound over, the landlord of the Hibernian Hotel alone being fined £100.

The Worthington Riots, 1897

The only occasion when the Riot Act was read in Christchurch was on 26 September 1897, when Arthur Bently Worthington, the religious impostor, attempted for the third Sunday in succession to hold a public meeting. Hostile crowds had disturbed his earlier meetings but on 26 September the entire Christchurch police force, which had been concentrated outside the Oddfellows' Hall, was faced by a crowd estimated at 6,000 people. When Worthington and his friends emerged from the building and attempted to enter a cab, the crowd made a determined rush forcing the police back to within a few yards of the vehicle. At this critical moment a Magistrate climbed on to the box of the cab and read the Riot Act. Mounted constables, using their batons freely, were able to clear Lichfield Street sufficiently to allow Worthington to depart under police escort. A large crowd again assembled outside the Oddfellows' Hall the following Sunday. The Mayor, Magistrates, and a strong force of policemen were present but there was no disorder. Worthington soon afterwards left Christchurch to return to Australia.

The Waterfront Strike, 1913

Several serious riots occurred in Wellington during the waterfront strike of 1913. The strike started on 22 October, but Wellington was reasonably peaceful until the arrival of mounted special constables from the country districts in the early hours of 30 October. That morning the strikers attacked a troop of “specials” near the Post Office stores in Waterloo Quay and put them to flight. Towards evening, the “specials” retaliated by charging the crowd in Post Office Square. In the mêlée that followed, several “specials” took refuge in Whitcombe and Tombs's store which was besieged by angry strikers and defended by the staff with drawn revolvers. Sir Joseph Ward questioned the Prime Minister about the provocative behaviour of the special constables, but more serious incidents were to follow.

On 3 and 4 November there were riots in Buckle Street, around the Mount Cook Garrison Hall where the special constables were quartered, and around the Royal Tiger Hotel. Dozens of people were injured, including a man and a boy who suffered bullet wounds. The following day, 5 November, saw the “Battle of Featherston Street”, when the strikers tried in vain to prevent the shipment of racehorses to the New Zealand Cup meeting at Christchurch.

The next fortnight was fairly peaceful but there were new disorders in Wellington on 18 and 19 November, after the police had been instructed to break up meetings in the Post Office Square. Minor incidents occurred in other centres during the strike but nothing approached the violence which reigned in Wellington and which Sir Joseph Ward described in Parliament as “a system of Mexican revolt and civil war, a system of our own kith and kin from the country being brought down against our own kith and kin in the town to use force for the settlement of an industrial dispute”. On several occasions in Wellington, Magistrates were said to have been ready to read the Riot Act. About a hundred people were prosecuted and sentences ranged up to 11 months' imprisonment. The strike, which was called off on 20 December, ended in the complete defeat of the unionists.

The Depression Riots, 1932

A series of riots in New Zealand occurred early in 1932, during the world-wide economic depression. On Saturday, 9 January, a procession of unemployed, many of them women, marched to the offices of the Otago Hospital Board in Dunedin to demand relief. When the Board's officials refused assistance, the enraged crowd rushed to Wardell Brothers' grocery store nearby where they were met by a cordon of police. The store's windows were smashed but the police stood their ground. The situation remained tense, with large crowds milling through the streets and occasional fights breaking out, but the excitement subsided after a special distribution of 800 food parcels for the weekend had been arranged. An Emergency Relief Depot was opened after the riot, but on 9 April there were new unemployed disorders in Dunedin, again following a refusal of assistance by the Hospital Board.

The most serious riot of the year took place later that week, on 14 April, in Auckland. Postal employees had called a demonstration and public meeting to protest against the 10 per cent cut in salaries imposed by the Government. As their procession moved up to the Town Hali it was joined by thousands of unemployed marching behind the banners of the Unemployed Workers' Movement. Outside the Town Hall the unemployed were refused admittance by a strong force of police. The crowd surged forwards and there was some scuffling and shouting. J. H. Edwards, the leader of the unemployed, rose to address his followers but was struck down by a police baton, and this incident became the signal for a general melee in which the enraged crowd attacked the police with pickets which they had broken off a fence near by.

Hundreds were injured in the fighting and, while the police were hemmed in near the Town Hall, looters ran through Queen Street smashing shop windows and raiding jewellery and other stores. Sailors with fixed bayonets were marched through town, but public order was only partially restored that night. There was more window smashing the following day in Karangahape Road, when mounted “specials” charged the crowds.

The Government hastily introduced a repressive Public Safety Conservation Bill but it failed to prevent yet another serious riot, this time in Wellington, on 10 May. Following a demonstration outside Parliament Buildings and an unsuccessful deputation to the Government, the unemployed rushed through Lambton Quay, Willis, and Manners Streets. Many shop windows were smashed and again some looting took place. There were many prosecutions arising out of these disturbances and sentences were heavy. Christchurch alone, of the four main centres, saw no unemployed riots during the depression, thanks largely to the efficiency of its relief services.

The Battle of Manners Street, Wellington, 1943

This riot, which has passed into Wellington legend as “the Battle of Manners Street”, took place on the evening of Saturday, 3 April 1943. It began at the Allied Services' Club in Manners Street (now the Manners Street Post Office) when, it is alleged, servicemen from the southern United States refused to let some Maori servicemen drink in the club. When the Americans removed their Army service belts to emphasise their point of view, New Zealand servicemen joined in and the “battle” spread into the streets. American military police, who arrived to restore order, took sides and used their batons. The fighting spread to the A.N.A. Club in Willis Street, where belts and knives were used, and into Cuba Street. It has been estimated that over 1,000 American and New Zealand, troops were involved, as well as several hundreds of civilians. The battle lasted for about four hours before order was restored by the civil police. Many American soldiers were injured during this affray and at least two were killed. The “Battle of Manners Street” was the ugliest riot in New Zealand's history.

The “Battle of Manners Street” was not the only clash between American and New Zealand troops in New Zealand cities. About the same time there were two similar riots in Auckland, and a further clash occurred outside the Mayfair Cabaret, in Cuba Street, Wellington, on 12 May 1945. There was also a clash between a small party of American servicemen and Maori civilians at Otaki in October 1943.

In no case has the result of any of the ensuing inquiries been published; and, owing to the strictures of wartime censorship, no reference to the riots appeared at the time in local newspapers.

The Auckland Prison Riot, 1965

At Mount Eden Gaol, at 2 a.m. on 20 July 1965, two masked prisoners clubbed a warder who surprised them while escaping. Several more cells were opened and the prisoners then set fire to the central dome. Confusion spread as more of the inmates were freed to save them from possible suffocation. Fires raged throughout the day, gutting most of the prison buildings. While firemen struggled to put out fires, rioting prisoners showered them with bricks, crates, books, and molotov cocktails. Eventually the firemen were withdrawn from the buildings to prevent serious injuries. Meanwhile the prisoners, who controlled the inside of the gaol, burned anything combustible including furniture, bedding, and the records from the administration block. As the fires spread, warders courageously entered the burning cell blocks to see that no prisoners were trapped. A cordon of armed police, warders, and troops stood guard round the prison in the glare of hastily rigged floodlights. Warning shots were fired and high-powered hoses were used to discourage one attempt to break out. The riot ended at 10.45 a.m. on 21 July, when the prisoners surrendered after 33 hours of rioting. By that time the 83-year-old gaol was a blackened shell. All of the 293 prisoners were still in custody.

Paparua Riot, Christchurch, 1965

No sooner had the Auckland riot subsided than trouble broke out in the south. On 24 July two convicts made an abortive attempt to set fire to part of Mount Crawford Prison, Wellington. On the following day, at Paparua Prison, Christchurch, a riot broke out during a service in the chapel. A fierce fight followed in which six warders were injured. The east wing of the prison was set on fire, and the revolt was quelled only after tear-gas was used. More than 40 warders and policemen suffered superficial injuries.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington and Herbert Otto Roth, B.A., DIP.N.Z.L.S., Deputy Librarian, University of Auckland.

RIOTS 23-Apr-09 Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington and Herbert Otto Roth, B.A., DIP.N.Z.L.S., Deputy Librarian, University of Auckland.