Worked at:
- Wanganui Telegraph Office: Telegram Boy, from Sep 1962
- Radio Training School: Trainee Radio Operator, from Mar 1962
- Wellington Radio: Radio Operator, 16 Dec 1963 – 30 Oct 1993 (station closed 30 Sep)
- Maritime Operations Centre, Wellington: Radio Operator, Feb 1995 – Dec 2017 (retirement)
Service:
Post Office and Telecom: 31 years
Kordia Ltd: 22 years
Incidents that occurred during Peter’s years at Wellington Radio
- Fijian trader Tuvalu run aground near Glenburn Station Wairarapa Coast, Jan 1967
- Wahine sunk in Wellington Harbour, 10 Apr 1968
- Maranui sunk off Mercury Island, 13 Jun 1968
- SS Gothic caught fire in the Pacific, 2 Aug 1968
- Pacific Charger run aground at Baring Head, 21 May 1981
- Mikhail Lermontov sunk at Port Gore, 16 Feb 1986
- Yacht Rose-Noelle capsized and drifted up East Coast of North Island and ended up on Great Barrier Island. 1 June 1989 to 30 Sep 1989
Peter, or ‘Mr Baird’ as we know him, is about to retire in a couple of weeks after 50 years service to SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) on marine radio. For over 50 years he has been doing shiftwork, including 12-hour day and 12-hour night shifts. He has worked Christmas Days, New Years Eves, missed family birthdays and get togethers etc. The life of a shift workerk isn’t for everyone. Peter probably has one of the biggest collections of Morse keys in New Zealand – around 100 and counting! And this is his second collection, as a house fire wiped out his first collection, so he had to start again.” Words and photo: Tony Graham
