Staff receive Erebus medal

A known 17 current serving staff are among a preliminary list of 133 eligible police personnel identified to receive a new medal for their part in the 1979 Mt Erebus Crash recovery, investigation and victim identification work.

ON 28 November – the 27th anniversary of the crash – the Prime Minister, Rt Hon. Helen Clark, together with the Minister of Police, Hon. Annette King and the Minister of Defence, Hon. Phil Goff, announced the New Zealand Special Service Medal (Erebus) will be awarded to police and other personnel involved with the body recovery, crash investigation and victim identification phases of ‘Operation Overdue’.

The operation was mounted by NZ Police following the crash of Air New Zealand flight TE 901 on the north slope of Mt Erebus, Ross Island, Antarctica, on 28 November 1979, with the loss of all 257 passengers and crew.

The recovery team which worked at the crash site consisted of experienced search and rescue personnel, including police and Federated Mountain Club members, together with support personnel.

Victims recovered from the crash site were flown to Auckland for identification by teams of pathologists, dentists and police.

In announcing the medal, the Prime Minister said she was proud to recognise the work of extraordinary individuals who undertook the recovery, investigation and identification work in the wake of the Erebus disaster.

“The crash of flight TE 901 was without question the bleakest moment in the history of New Zealand’s 50 year presence in Antarctica,” she said.

“It was only through the work of Operation Overdue personnel that individuals, families and the nation were able to fully come to terms with the tragic deaths of so many people.”

The New Zealand Special Service Medal (NZSSM) was instituted in 2002 to ‘recognise service or work for New Zealand in very difficult, adverse, extreme or hazardous circumstances that fall outside the boundaries of what individuals could normally expect as part of their routine duties or work.’

“The work of the personnel who were involved in the Mt Erebus phase of ‘Operation Overdue’ far exceeded the boundaries of what could be expected in the course of normal police, search and rescue, or air accident investigation duties.  The circumstances were indeed extreme: a hazardous physical location, extreme climatic conditions, dangers presented by the wreckage, the psychological strain of recovering the victims, and highly demanding physical work,” Ms Clark said.

“This medal also recognises the unique psychological risks faced by those who worked to successfully identify 214 of the 257 victims. The identification team’s complex work was exhaustive, painstaking, and innovative. It was undertaken in harrowing circumstances well outside the boundaries of what would normally be expected in the course of professional mortuary work or routine police victim identification duties.”

Any other eligible people, or the families of any eligible Operation Overdue personnel who have since died, can make an application for the medal. The NZSSM (Erebus) will be administered by the New Zealand Defence Force, on behalf of Police.

All applications for the NZSSM (Erebus) can be made via a form on the New Zealand Defence Force Medals Website: www.medals.nzdf.mil.nz/news 

Application forms should be sent to: Assistant Director Medals Policy, Personnel Branch, Headquarters New Zealand Defence Force, Private Bag, Wellington, New Zealand.