Election Night Surprise. Raid in Matamata. Quantity of Liquor Seized
Peter Anich's early life is interesting and is summarised in the Long Read below. By 1931 the Anich family had moved to Matamata, where Peter ran a restaurant in Arawa Street. That year he again came under scrutiny for selling liquor without a licence. A1932 police raid on his premises—by officers from Morrinsville and Hamilton—drew a crowd of onlookers, and the newspaper noted that “the visit was not popular.” with a large crowd collecting at the front and rear of the premises. Despite these troubles he continued operating in Arawa Street, and in 1934 he was again charged with unlicensed liquor sales.
In 1936 a son, Thomas James Peter (“Tommy”), was born. His parents were both in their 40s by this time. The Anichs hosted more than fifty people at the christening celebration at the restaurant, including the Mayor. A similarly large gathering, at which there were many toasts, marked his first birthday the following year. . He was very proud of that son, sending a photograph of him to the Duke of Windsor. This was not quite as random a thing to do as it seems. He recalled in the speech he gave at his son’s birthday party that during the last tour of NZ by the then Prince of Wales he (P.T.A.) was playing rugby in Northland. He broke his jaw and wasunconscious. When he came to, he was in the dressing room with the Prince of Wales’ hand on his head asking how he felt!
In 1938 Peter, Perica, and two year old Tommy returned to Dalmatia . In a letter to J. Buchanan (his solicitor) in Matamata, he wrote that he hadpurchased shares in a butchery on the island of Hvar. Over the next few years he became involved in supplying provisions to forces resisting German occupation. Eventually the fighting forced the family to flee to Italy , from where they were rescued and repatriated to New Zealand in 1945 aboard the ‘Mooltan’.
