“Caught by a strong gust of wind the boom of a yacht in which four men were crossing the Hokianga Harbour swung round so forcibly that it knocked them all overboard. Three of the men swam to Rangi Point, three-quarters of a mile distant, but the fourth was drowned and his body has not yet been recovered. He was Private Dan Diamond, aged 30, single, a Maori soldier, who was spending his furlough with his adopted parents at Rangi Point.

After visiting a doctor at Kaikohe, Private Diamond, with two furlough companions and another man, left Opononi late in the day by yacht in boisterous weather. The fatality occurred within sight of his home in about 60 feet of water, and at a point where the current is very swift.”

[Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 266, 9 November 1943, Page 2]