On June 19, 1942 , General Rupertus and the second echelon of the 1st Marine Division embarked from San Francisco, California to join General Vandegrift and the front echelon in Wellington, New Zealand.
The purpose of the American military presence in New Zealand in 1942 was to train in the Pacific theater to prepare to meet the Japanese on the islands of the Pacific. The situation in summer 1942 was dire. And, New Zealanders were already engaged in WWII (since 1939) with over 140,000 serving in Europe, Greece and North Africa.
How to transport the 1st Marine Division to the Pacific?
Due to the constraints of World War II raging in Europe, it was not possible to transport the entire division located in New River, North Carolina to the Pacific all at once due to limited ports and ships. Add the threat of Germans prowling up and down the east coast of the United States.
Consequently, they divided the division into two echelons, departing from the east and west coasts of the United States.
Though this map was completed two years later in 1944 by Stanley Francis Turner, this is the best WWII map I have found in the public domain to give a sense of where New Zealand is, how far they needed to travel, and show the vastness of what we were facing in WWII.
The first echelon, led by General Vandegrift, included the 5th Marines and most of the artillery. They embarked for the Pacific from Norfolk, Virginia on May 20, 1942 for mid-June arrival in New Zealand.
Meanwhile, General Rupertus, accompanied by Lieutenant Colonel Kilmartin as acting Chief of Staff, took charge of the second echelon and supporting units. They traveled across the United States by train for an embarkation date of June 19, 1942. Rupertus, would be aboard the USS John Ericsson, planning for a July 11 arrival.
Here come the Marines
General Vandegrift, General Rupertus, and around 15,000 Marines of the 1st Marine Division would soon “invade” New Zealand. This included five transports carrying heavy equipment, weapons, tanks, tracked landing vehicles, ammunition, and construction supplies, which arrived on the freighters Electra (AK-021) and del Brazil.
To ensure a smooth transition, Major Merrill “Bill” Twining, the division’s assistant operations officer was sent ahead as part of the advance team. Twining, accompanied by Chief Quartermaster Clerk, liaised with the New Zealand government and military leaders to prepare a suitable campsite for the division.*
The goal was to have a fully functional base upon the Marines’ arrival, allowing them to train and become combat-ready by January.**
Twining also oversaw the arrival of cargo ships ahead of the division and conducted scouting missions on the islands of Guadalcanal and Tulagi to assess potential Japanese presence.
In the footsteps of Colonel Peter Ellis
Twining and his team followed in the footsteps of Lieutenant Colonel Pete Ellis, who had scouted the Pacific islands in 1921 based on the belief, shared by then commandant General Lejeune, that America might eventually go to war with Japan. Ellis had conducted reconnaissance missions and was known by the Japanese on the islands. He was on to something, but died under mysterious circumstances on an island near Peleliu.
Building the campsite
Despite limited resources and available labor, Twining managed to build their campsite in New Zealand with remarkable speed. The assistance of elderly laborers, resilient New Zealand women, the New Zealand Public Works, and the Army played a crucial role in accomplishing this feat.
Leaving the US by sea
General Vandegrift vividly described their journey in his memoir, Once a Marine, recounting their navigation through the Atlantic coast, transition through the Panama Canal, and eventual arrival in the Pacific.
“Under destroyer escort, we steamed down the now dangerous Atlantic coast, transitioned to the Panama Canal, and proceeded into the Pacific. A short way out, our guardian destroyers turned back. We next lost our long-range plane escort, which left us alone with only the vastness of the Pacific, a zigzag course, and our speed of defense against discovery by enemy submarines. A few of us shared the terrible truth that life jackets and lifeboats existed for less than half our numbers……Early on Sunday, we spotted the New Zealand coast, an almost perfect pastoral scene of green fields rising to hills, dotted with white sheep and yellow gorse, surely one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world.”
New Zealanders welcome the Americans
On June 14, 1942, the front echelon of the 1st Marine Division arrived in the Wellington harbor unannounced on the quiet of a Sunday morning for security purposes. They were welcomed by local ferries tooting their horns and a band waiting for them on Wellington’s Kings Wharf playing the Marine Corps hymn, “From the Halls of Montezuma…to the shores of Tripoli….”
An American Army division, along with nurses, had arrived two days earlier in Auckland on June 12, 1942, and was also greeted warmly by the New Zealanders, bands playing music, and a welcome from the Mayor of Auckland, J.A.C. Allum. The Army unit would remain at the camp in Auckland, while the Marines would take over the camp in Wellington.
Vandegrift and the Marines were ready to stretch their legs on land.
General Vandegrift said when her arrived, Major Twinning jumped aboard ship to greet him. Twinning told him the camps and New Zealand were prepared for the first group of Marines. Even the second echelon of the 1st Marine Division arriving with Rupertus in July.
However, the big cargo ships, The Elektra and del Brazil, had not been unloaded. There had been no available workforce to unload the supplies before the Marines arrived.
Work Party!
Vandegrift was exasperated to learn of this problem. Additionally, he had to get the ships unloaded and out of the harbor fast to not alert the Japanese or clog the port.
This task required dividing the travel-worn Marines of the First Marine Division into working parties, and with intense effort and perseverance, the job was successfully completed within 24 hours. Though some New Zealand dock workers expressed their discontent, it did not deter Vandegrift and the Marines from fulfilling their mission of assisting in the Allied war against Japan.
A harbinger of what was to come when Rupertus arrived with the rear echelon.
With much of the equipment unloaded, the exhausted Marines marched to their camps where they could rest, eat and hopefully, shower.
See the Marines arriving in New Zealand:
https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/34578/arrival-of-the-us-marines-in-new-zealand.
The calm before the storm.
Never forget.
*This information on Twining was detailed in the memoir No Bended Knee by General Merrill B. Twining.
**General Vandegrift planned to train for a January D-day on Tulagi and Guadalcanal. The Joint Chiefs of Staff would soon change that trajectory.
Want a more detailed view of the second map? https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1944_map_of_the_world_showing_events_of_World_War_II.jpg#/media/File:1944_map_of_the_world_showing_events_of_World_War_II.jpg
2 Responses
This fills a niche in my knowledge of Dads war. I had forgotten he had gone to New Zealand before Guadalcanal.
He always spoke lovingly about his visits visits to New Zealand and Australia. Thank for posting this!!
You’re welcome! It’s my honor to share this important history.