Getting off military transport ships in Wellington in 1943, the US Marines were a fighting force who had been through hell.
After a year of rest and recuperation, then training based from their barracks in Wairarapa, they made a big impact culturally and militarily, but were soon ready to head back into the fray.
Masterton historian Mark Pacey recently launched his book ‘Our New Zealand Home, The USMC in Wairarapa’ which covered the activities and influence of the US Marines on the region during World War II.
New Zealand was a rendezvous point for American divisions rotating into the Pacific Theatre of war and for those resting and training between campaigns to take back key islands on the way to mainland Japan.
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Director of Marine Corps History, Lieutenant Colonel Edward Nevgloski, said in the book’s foreword that while much was understood about the broader strategic and operational imperatives of the Marines coming to New Zealand, very little was known about their quality of life and interaction with the locals.
“Pacey’s excellent research brings to life these social and cultural elements, as does his ‘then and now’ approach to telling the fascinating story about how Wairarapa became a home away from home for many US Marines.”
In 1943, Masterton was home to two battalions of the United States Marine Corps and Pacey said the camp of the first battalion was right next door to a girls’ high school.
“Not the wisest decision in the world. It will surprise many to know that it was not the Americans that caused problems, but the Solway girls.
“They would climb the fence and look over at the Marines and have to be chased away by their security,” Pacey said.
The Marines often went on training exercises in the Tararua Range but also liked to get outdoors for recreation including hunting.
“The farmers loved this as they had rabbit problems.”
The Marines had come from the hellish conditions of near constant Japanese attack in the Solomon Islands, so an extended period of recuperation and training in New Zealand was a godsend.
The book noted that the marines were not in great shape when they arrived, as described by Marjorie Hodder’s oral history in the Wairarapa Archive.
“Poor wretches, they had had an awful time at Guadalcanal. I don’t think this generation really realises how fortunate we were that the Americans came in when they did, my word we were fortunate really. Because they took an awful beating, thrashing at Guadalcanal.”
Many of the soldiers were impressed with Wellington on arrival likening it to San Francisco.
Marine Frederick A Seelig described the capital as they entered the port on USS George Clymer: “We entered the harbour at Wellington, New Zealand, and tied up at a pier. We were close to the downtown area of the city. It was a beautiful city, with much of it built from the shoreline up to its surrounding hills.”
They were also welcomed by the locals both as a matter of interest, but also as a boost for national security.
“The arrival of the Marines in Wellington was a welcome relief to the public as there was a real fear that the Japanese were going to attack.”
Members of the US Embassy in Wellington attended the launch of Pacey’s book at the Wairarapa Archive last month.
- The book is available through Masterton Paper Plus, Hedley’s Bookshop, Take Note Carterton and from the website www.gosson.co.nz
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