Author(s): Mark Pacey

Second World War

In 1943 two battalions of the United States Marine Corps camped in Masterton. From February to September this small New Zealand town played host to the Americans. Many residents remember these young men fondly and all said they had livened up the town that had been darkened by years of war.

Our New Zealand Home looks back at who these Marines were and where they had come from before they arrived in Masterton. The author visited many of the places they went to in New Zealand, making the same journey to see what is there now and if anything remains from the American visitors. Extensively researched, Our New Zealand Home tells the full story of this group of young men who called Wairarapa home for seven months in the middle of a world war.

In 1943 two battalions of the United States Marine Corps camped in Masterton. From February to September this small New Zealand town played host to the Americans. Many residents remember these young men fondly and all said they had livened up the town that had been darkened by years of war.

Our New Zealand Home looks back at who these Marines were and where they had come from before they arrived in Masterton. The author visited many of the places they went to in New Zealand, making the same journey to see what is there now and if anything remains from the American visitors. Extensively researched, Our New Zealand Home tells the full story of this group of young men who called Wairarapa home for seven months in the middle of a world war.