Tears flow as daughter hears her dad

MARK TAYLOR/Waikato Times

DISTANT VOICES: Hazel Abbott and her husband, Ron, listen to a recording her dad sent back from World War II.

Relevant offers

As Hazel Abbott listened to her father's voice for the first time in 61 years, the tears began to flow.

"It's just incredible," Mrs Abbott, 73, said wiping the tears away.

"It's just so hard to believe."

Mrs Abbott's father, William (Bill) Goodisson was one of thousands of soldiers who sent recorded messages home to New Zealand during World War II, via the New Zealand Broadcasting Service mobile unit.

These recordings were later broadcast at home and are now part of Waikato Museum's latest exhibition, titled Never a Dull Moment, which gives a peek into Hamilton's history.

Mrs Abbott, born in Te Aroha, was five when she sat down with her mother and younger brother to hear the message played on Christmas Eve 1941.

"I can't remember it. But I remember Mum telling us about it. It's just unbelievable that I'm listening to it now. I can't believe this could happen."

It was only by chance that Mrs Abbott even found out about the recording.

Her friend, Rose Oliver, happened to go to the museum the day after the exhibition opened on August 22. She saw Mr Goodisson's name and listened to the recording.

"She was too emotional to ring on the Sunday to tell me, but she rang on the Monday and we were just in tears on the phone."

Mrs Abbott spent the next five days wondering if it could really be her dad.

But all doubts were dispelled on Saturday when she travelled from Tauranga to hear her dad's voice for the first time in six decades for herself.

"He sounded a bit shy (on the recording) and that's what he was like.

"Over the years you forget about those sort of things, because Dad died when I was 12.

"I just wish Mum could have been here to hear it. And my brother, because he only passed away in March." Mr Goodisson, who worked at the Waitoa dairy factory, also sent a message to his workmates in the recording.

He told them to keep sending milk powder to the Middle East, where he was based in Egypt.

"I remember that factory clearly," Mrs Abbott said.

"I used to take Dad a cup of tea and eat the milk powder off the floor. It probably wasn't very good for me."

Mrs Abbott's husband, Ron, son Dave and granddaughter Charlotte, 12, joined her to listen to the recording.

A database of the recordings are held by the Sound Archives and can be searched online atsoundarchives.co.nz or by emailing info@soundarchives.co.nz.

- © Fairfax NZ News