Recalling Kapiti history

75 years ago, Marines arrived in Wellington and Auckland to help protect New Zealand in the event of Japanese attacks. They also came to train for the on-going war in the Pacific, and over the next 18 months, 15,000 lived in three camps north of Paekakariki.
Every year on America’s Memorial Day (the last Monday in May) there is a service held beside the US Marines Memorial in Queen Elizabeth Park.
This year the Monday service was especially poignant, as a restored Marines Hut was opened on the seaward side of the Memorial.
On the previous Sunday the Marines were remembered in a different way. Over 175 walkers and runners traced the course of an old route march which Marine Leon Uris described in his book Battle Cry.
