History – Son of a policeman

Wellsford recently lost a respected resident, Alan Dale, who passed away aged 98. Alan was born in Dargaville in 1923 and moved to Wellsford with parents, Tommy and Rachel (nee Hoare) when he was 12. During World War II, Alan served as a radar mechanic and held the rank of Leading Aircraftsman.
When the war ended, he returned to Wellsford and worked at the Farmers Trading store, which used to stand on the corner of Port Albert Road and State Highway 1, selling everything from clothing to gelignite. He retired as store manager in 1985. He loved electronics and when televisions arrived in the 1960s, he built his own five-inch and 17-inch set. This made him the first person to own a television in the district and a very popular person with all the neighbours.

Another passion was amateur radio. He built the tallest radio tower in Wellsford and after obtaining his licence, he would spend many hours talking to other radio hams from all around the world about history, farming or just the weather. His father, Tommy, came from Northern Ireland in 1913 and worked as a labourer before joining the New Zealand police force. In the very early days, policemen were selected by provisional councils to uphold the law, but when the Police Act was passed in 1886, New Zealand established its first national and civil police force. The first non-commissioned officer in New Zealand was Sergeant John Nash who prominently displayed the Number ‘1’ on his headgear. The day Tommy Dale arrived to take up his new position, there had been heavy rain in the district and all north and south-bound trains were stranded, leaving the local hotel overflowing with guests. With no room at the hotel for his family, the quick-thinking young policeman engaged a local carrier to transport the family’s beds to the unoccupied police house, where they spent their first night in an otherwise unfurnished house.

After Constable Thomas Inger, the first policeman in Albertland, who retired in 1891, the district saw many changes including the moving of the police station from Port Albert to Wellsford in 1909. Tommy, the local policeman for 20 years, lived in Wellsford after he retired. He was well-known for his uncanny ability to sense if someone was in possession of alcohol and one night when policing a local dance, some youths who were handing out beer bottles from the car to their mates got the shock of their lives when they found they had inadvertently handed a bottle to Tommy. Petty crimes like the mystery disappearance of six cans of tomatoes and minor traffic accidents kept him busy during the war years. A few can still remember him from their early childhood; Tommy the Irishman with his great sense of humour and community spirit, who served his community well.