LAUNCH TRAGEDY

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 October 1939, Page 5

LAUNCH TRAGEDY

FUNERAL OF MR BRASELL. [per press association.] CHRISTCHURCH, October 17. Representatives of the Army and Navy, as well as fishermen's and seamen’s organisations, local bodies, and yacht and' power-boat clubs, to-day, attended the funeral of Mr Frederick James Brasell, who lost his life when a shot from a coastal battery sank the launch Dolphin. The services in the city and at the graveside at the Bromley cemetery were attended by some hundreds, including many fishermen and seamen. The Vicar of Avonside (Rev. W. S. Southward) conducted the services. The pall-bearers were Messrs W. Coffey, P. Gaillard, E. Willman (a son of Mr Brasell’s companion on the Dolphin when it sank), E. Arnesen, W. Poole (Akaroa), and Norman Cree. Lieutenant-Colonel R. B. Smythe, D.S.O. (Army Headquarters), Major H. M. Foster, area staff officer (representing Colonel P. H. Bell, Officer Commanding the Southern Command), and Major J. M. Mitchell (officer commanding the 23rd Heavy Battery, New Zealand Artillery) represented the Army, Commander G. Dennistoun. R.N.R., represented naval headquarters. The wreaths included one from the Minister for Defence (Mr Jones) and the Army Board, another from the officer commanding, officers and ranks of the Southern Military District, and one from the officers, noncommissioned officers, and men of the 23rd Heavy Battery. New Zealand Artillery. The Navy Board, Wellington, and the officers and naval ratings at the Port of Lyttelton also sent wreaths. . Sailing and cruising clubs from Lyttelton and. other ports, the Federated Seamen’s Union, the Mayor, councillors, and citizens of Akaroa, Post and Telegraph officers, Greymouth, many business firms, the Christchurch Fish Retailers’ Association, and the Lyttelton Flarbour Board and its employees were also represented in the wreaths. The Harbour Board was represented at the funeral by the chairman (Mr F. E. Sutton), the acting-secretary (Mr FT. H. Cook), the engineer (Mr P. W. Fryer), and the harbourmaster (Captain J. Plowman).