At any one time between June 1942 and mid-1944 there were between 15,000 and 45,000 American servicemen in camp in New Zealand. For both visitors and hosts this was an intriguing experience with much of the quality of a Hollywood fantasy.
Overview - US forces in New Zealand
American invasion, 1942-1944
Arrival - US forces in New Zealand
The troops arrive
The final stages - New Zealanders in the Pacific War
The camps - US Forces in New Zealand
American life in New Zealand between 1942 and 1944 was centred on the camps, most of which were within marching distance or a short train journey from Wellington or Auckland city.
Having fun US style - US Forces in New Zealand
All dressed up and nowhere to go
Having fun NZ Style - US Forces in New Zealand
Meet New Zealand
Yankee boys, Kiwi girls - US Forces in New Zealand
Yankee boy hits town
Whether they were New Zealanders in Cairo or Americans in Wellington, soldiers of all nations had one thing in common. Having worked hard in camp or at the front, they wanted to play hard. Young, healthy, and unrestrained by the precepts of family and community, wondering if the next month might bring death, the soldier abroad turned instinctively to pleasures of the flesh.
Economic impact - US Forces in New Zealand
Servicing the military machine
Americans and Māori - US Forces in New Zealand
‘Haere mai, Amerikana’
In 1942, New Zealand may not have had ‘the best race relations in the world’, but there was a wide acceptance of relaxed social intercourse between Māori and Pākehā in public. Some of the Americans had different traditions. A number came from Texas and other southern states where ‘Jim Crow’ laws still kept ‘niggers’ apart and in their place.
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