On the morning of Tuesday February 3, 1931 just before 11 o’clock the earth gave a sudden lurch, and everything went mad. The ground rocked and buildings collapsed trapping people inside. Cars fell into chasms and power lines came down. The shaking continued for two minutes and in that time 246 people died. Flames were seen over Napier and the town was covered by a pall of thick black smoke.
St John members in Auckland made themselves available to assist the devastated area. Twenty members, four transport officers in two ambulances, and two cars loaded with medical supplies headed to Napier. Members rescued burnt victims, washed and fed patients, made tent pegs, assisted in operations and moved casualties to the Waipukurau hospital for major surgery.
Four days later, the transport officers left Napier field hospital to return to Auckland. The brigade members continued to work at the field hospital for a further 6 days working sometimes as long as fifty hours without sleep. Our members returned to Auckland on the H.M.S. Diomede, as guest of the Navy. They even qualified for a tot of ‘Nelson’s Blood’ on the way home