American troops arrive
- When
- 1942–1944
- Where
- Wellington · Te Whanganui-a-Tara
- Reach
- Nationwide
With Singapore fallen and Japan advancing, around 100,000 US servicemen passed through New Zealand — a social shock as much as a military one.
Britain could not defend the Pacific, and New Zealand’s own division was in North Africa. The Americans brought money, nylons, a different racial etiquette that clashed badly with Māori servicemen’s treatment, and the Battle of Manners Street brawl in 1943. Around 1,500 New Zealand women married US servicemen. Strategically, 1942 is when New Zealand’s security guarantee began shifting from London to Washington, formalised in ANZUS in 1951.
Regions affected
Sources
Written for this project from these references rather than copied from them. Follow a link to check the account against the original.
Related
The great Māori urban migration
Māori went from about 25 percent urban in 1945 to nearly 80 percent by 1975 — one of the fastest urbanisations recorded anywhere.
Social Security Act
Free hospital care, subsidised doctors’ visits and universal benefits from cradle to grave — among the most comprehensive welfare systems in the world at the time.
No Maoris, No Tour
A petition of 162,000 signatures opposed sending an All Black team to South Africa with Māori players excluded. The tour went ahead anyway.
WellingtonNgā Tamatoa formed
A group of young urban Māori activists, many university-educated, began confronting the state over te reo, the Treaty and racism — loudly and publicly.
Auckland