Radioma cheered up the troops

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Ulric de l'Hermit Williams, radio broadcaster. Born Havelock, February
5, 1910; married Gretta Stark (died 1999), 2 daughters 1 son; died
Havelock North, January 17, 2008, aged 97.
Ulric Williams took New Zealand radio on the road to places it had
never been. Entertaining troops during World War II was an important
lubricant for the war effort, as much for the folks at home as for
young New Zealanders whose first taste of OE was as fighting men.

In 1943 he was seconded from the New Zealand Broadcasting Service as a
concert party organiser in the Pacific theatre, beginning with New
Caledonia and, at the war's end, in Japan.

When Kiwi concert parties were sent to Japan and Korea after 1951, he
selected the artists and arranged a cycle of six tours through camps.
Such was their popularity that the concert audiences included
servicemen from other nations. Mr Williams, who did his bit on stage
as compere and comedian, saw that each show wrapped up with an 18-
minute routine of Maori music.

Mr Williams was adept at production, and had made a name for himself
as an amateur actor. As a youngster, he moved to Wellington with his
family from Havelock at the head of Pelorus Sound.

In 1936, while performing with the Wellington Operatic Society, he met
local soprano Gretta Stark. They took part in many productions in the
late 1930s, especially at Napier where they moved after their
marriage. He was an honorary life member of the Napier Operatic
Society.

In 1939, with Percy Spiller, Mr Williams launched variety shows in
support of war funds. Held at Napier's Municipal Theatre, they were a
Wednesday night fixture and continued till 1943.

After the war he was appointed head office programme manager of the
NZBS shortwave division. One weekly session was a compilation and
collection of Maori waiata, chants and lullabies from around New
Zealand. It was called Song and Story of the Maori and ran for many
years.

Mr Williams had barely finished his Korean War tours when he was
assigned to be the NZBS reporter with the RNZAF entry in the 1952
London-to-Christchurch air race. He was director of outside
broadcasting for the royal tour during the summer of 1953 and 1954.

He continued to produce radio shows, and formed the Ulric Williams
Concert Party, which performed around Wellington and other New Zealand
venues, especially at Christmas time.

In 1961 he became a director of the New Zealand Opera Company,
resigning his board seat in 1964 to become the company's general
manager. He oversaw the production of Porgy and Bess with a Maori cast
and Inia Te Wiata in the lead. It was a critical and profitable
success in New Zealand and Australia.

He resigned from the company in 1966, and joined S G Dinniss
Associates, a Wellington public relations firm. He retired in 1975,
and returned with his wife to Napier. After her death, he lived with a
daughter and her family at Waipawa. He is survived by two daughters
and a son.