"MAN DISAPPEARS FROM LAUNCH Tragedy on Harbour Victim a Returned Soldier A drowning fatality occurred on the harbour yesterday, the victim being Arthur Porter, a married man with two children, and a returned soldier from the present war. Mr. Porter had recently taken over the launch Eros for fishing purposes, and on Tuesday night he returned from a fishing expedition to Mayor Island. It is stated that at about 11 o'clock yesterday morning Mr Porter was engaged in cleaning the launch which was lying at its moorings just off the baths and it is thought that he slipped and fell into the water. He could not swim. Cries were heard by Mr Desmond Wynn and Mr .Robert Bamberry, who put off in a dinghy, but by the time they arrived at the launch there was no sign of the unfortunate man. The police were at once notified, and a search instituted but so far the body has not been recovered. At the request of the police the Air Force provided a plane to assist in the search yesterday. Mr Porter lived with his wife and family in a house in the vicinity of the baths, only a short distance from where the accident occurred."

BAY OF PLENTY TIMES, VOLUME LXXII, ISSUE 13317, 2 DECEMBER 1943, PAGE 4