Warbird Information Exchange

I have read often, and heard first hand from airmen, about the kindness and generosity of New Zealander Nola Luxford towards NZ and Australian airmen in New York.

Nola had become an actress in Hollywood in the 1920's and 30's both in silent films and the talkies. She had then gained more fame on the rasio, becoming the first woman to commentate the olympics, in NBC broadcasts made from the USA to NZ, Australia and the Pacific but also heard in the USA, Canada and Mexico. She became one of the first female news readers on radio in the USA but lost her job when war broke out in 1939, as her bosses thought war news should only be read by men.

She then devoted her life to war work, raising funds first for the British American Ambulance Service, and then she established the famous ANZAC Club in New York. This was like a Kiwi and Aussie version of the Stage Door Canteen or USO clubs, where they could drop in and have a free meal, rest, be entertained, dance or get guided tours of the city, etc. Most Kiwis who trained in Canada or passed thrpough the USA tried to make a pilgrimage to the club and to meet the famous Nola Luxford.

I wondered if any NYC dwellers might be able to get some photos of two sites connected with Nola's work. One of them is a memorial garden she established.

In 1940, she sought permission from the Rockefeller family to establish an Anzac garden on top of the British building in the Rockefeller Center to commemorate the Australian and New Zealand war dead. The garden was formally opened by New Zealand's prime minister, Peter Fraser, in 1941. Apparently memorial services continue to be held there each Anzac Day (April 25th) even nowadays so it must be still there.

The other site is the ANZAC Club itself. I believe it began in a room of the Phi Gamma Delta Clubhouse, a gentlemen's club at 106 West 56th Street. This was the start of the Anzac Club. By the end of the war some 35,000 men had enjoyed its hospitality. I don't know if it was there from 1941-45 of if it moved, but it was certainly there in 1941.

Can anyone assist please? I'd love to see what these places look like - especially the garden at Rockefeller Centre.

Thanks.

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I can look into this for you, Dave. I work near both of those locations, although at this moment I know nothing about whether they are still there or, in the case of the Rockefeller building rooftop, whether there is any public access.

August

Thanks August

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Phi Gamma Delta Clubhouse sounds like a college fraternity rather than a gentlemen's club. Of course they may do things differently in New York!

Dave,

A picture of the building (since sold by the fraternity) is at:

http://www.phigam.org/history/Sites/new_york_city.htm

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Bob

Thanks Old SAR pilot. Interesting. I guess during the war it probably had the NZ and Australian flags outside.

A link was also emailed to me of a couple of photos from ANZAC Day in the memorial garden. The photos are mainly of the ceremony rather than the garden, but you get a little idea of what it's like and also a lot of idea of how much it's in the midst of a bustling city.

http://medals.nzdf.mil.nz/news/image-ga ... ex.html#ny

So many pilots, navigators and gunners from the RNZAF who trained in Canada - and I know this first hand from many who've told me plus moreso form books - made the trip to New York to see the ANZAC Club. They also wanted to see the Empire State building and Statue of Liberty, but at the club they could arrange to be recorded onto disc and send it home to family with messages of greetings. They also got a taste of home there. Great stuff.

The Tuis ran similar clubs overseas in other places after this one was established, such as in Cairo and in some Indian cities, etc.

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