Let’s get “Becs to Belgium” has begun!
Launched on 30 th December 2024 we sold 150 raffle tickets for an amazing raffle that had
been kindly supported by businesses in our community.
We have also had donations from other community organisations so we are 1/3 of the way
there!!!
The next fundraising drive is an “Under the Sea” themed quiz night to be held on Friday 23 rd
May at the Main Hangar, Whitianga Airfield. Tickets go on sale on Thursday 1 st May for $25
each. We will have amazing silent auctions on the night and of course best dressed and top
team prizes too!! We look forward to seeing you all there!
We are excited and humbled by the support from our community for this amazing
opportunity. We have one more event after this in June 2025 – more to come soon!!
Please get in contact with Becs at the Museum ([email protected]) if
you would like to know more or if you would like to support this amazing project in a different
way.
Representing the Museum & Mercury Bay on the global stage
In 2020 the HMS Buffalo Re-examination Project was created to complete the first ever
detailed archaeological survey of the HMS Buffalo. The project was the recipient of the
Australasian Institute of Maritime Archaeology (AIMA) Scholarship for 2021, and the funds
were used to complete the survey in March 2021.
From this the Re-examination Project has grown, and we have completed many more
community-focused projects focusing on the HMS Buffalo. The project team consists of Kurt
Bennett & Matthew Gainsford (Maritime Archaeologists) and Becs Cox, Manager, Mercury
Bay Museum.
The team has won the New Zealand Archaeological Association’s Public Archaeology Award
in 2022, the Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology’s Public Archaeology Award in
2023 and most recently were awarded the Best Paper at AIMA Conference 2024 – titled
HMS Buffalo: Connections, collections and community.
As a results of these successes, the team have been invited to present a paper at the
International Kongress of Underwater Archaeology (IKUWA8) to be held at Oostend,
Belgium in October 2025. The team will be presenting in the session where the focus is on
underwater cultural heritage focussed avocational archaeology and citizen science groups
and the need for more of these groups! The HMS Buffalo Re-examination project and
Museum team are a perfect fit for this category and are out there doing this mahi regularly in
our community.
This is very exciting for the HMS Buffalo Re-examination Project Team and the Mercury Bay
Museum – not only to be recognised, but is an opportunity to showcase the amazing mahi
we do in promoting maritime archaeology and history within our community.
The HMS Buffalo Re-examination Project Team and the Mercury Bay Museum would love to
send Becs to attend this conference along with Kurt to represent us and the Mercury Bay
Community. “It’s a great honor to be asked to present at this global conference and to
represent Mercury Bay on the world stage. The work we do here in the Museum around the
HMS Buffalo and our history is so rewarding and it is amazing to think we can share that with
colleagues in the same archeological/museum fields. Through public interaction and
education, we have seen a real ownership of the HMS Buffalo wreck by the community, and
this grows more and more each time we are seen out there – whether it be on the land or on
the boat over the wreck. We just love being a part of this amazing work, protecting and
promoting our amazing heritage to the world” says Becs.
While in Belgium, Becs will also be spending time visiting world war memorial sites to learn
more about the involvement of Aotearoa New Zealand and specifically Mercury Bay in the
World Wars. Becs will visit the Commonwealth War Grave Cemeteries and monuments in
Belgium and France to pay respect on behalf of our community to our fallen soldiers who lie
at rest there far from home.
At this stage the total cost of the trip looks to be $12,000 – airfares, accommodation,
conference registration etc.
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