Island Bay Kindergarten – a Communist plot?

The author of the words below, From his book Working Class Son, Ron Smith, was senior enough in the Communist Party to have travelled to China and met Chairman Mao, probably the only resident of the Southern Bays to have done so. He remained active in peace campaigns until his death and was also active in local campaigns of all sorts. After the Soviet Union entered World War ll the Communist Party moved from its previous policy of opposition to ‘capitalist war’ to all-out commitment to the war effort. By uniting with other groups, even at the cost of being unseen, they hoped to help defeat Nazi Germany and find supporters in the wider population. 

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The   matter  of  the  Island  Bay Kindergarten started in 1942. Comrade Dot Murdoch was making hand grenades at Pallo Engineering in Courtenay Place and wanted child care for her two children. The Branch started off a Kindergarten campaign.

Everyone who was anyone in Island Bay got involved in it. One part of it was a Queen Contest with four Queens - Sports Queen, Youth Queen, Church Queen and Education Queen I think they were. The Surf Club, the Bowling Club, etc. backed the Sports Queen, the Scouts and Guides etc. backed the Youth Queen, and so on. Each penny raised in the contest counted one vote for a Queen. 

The Party Branch put its weight behind the sister of James Ritchie, now Professor of Sociology at Waikato University and sure enough she won. [Marie Ritchie. The family loved at 31 Medway St – ed]. Late in 1945, there was a big Ball in the Masonic Hall in Clyde Street at which she was crowned: Mayor Hislop and the Mayoress were there, Toop of the Island Bay RSA was there, everyone was there. I was just back from the war and I was there, still in uniform. 

But nobody knew that it was the Communist Party Branch of Island Bay which had launched the whole campaign. The united front work was good but to hide the face of the Party to that extent was a political error. A splendid Kindergarten was ultimately built in Melbourne Road - too late for Dot's kids, of course.