Bay news: World War II recollections of a US serviceman in Northland

US Marine Cary Ward (left) with comrade in arms Albert Russell in 1942.

The personal recollections of a US Navy sailor who was stationed in Northland during the latter part of World War II have revealed the human face of the thousands of US servicemen who trained here prior to fighting in the Pacific.

Cary Carlson Ward of Pensacola, Florida, joined the US Navy as a 17-year-old straight from his junior year at high school. His war journals include his recollections of being stationed at a camp for US Marines in Maungaturoto in the Kaipara. They have been edited into a biographical manuscript, A Journey to War, by his son, Daniel M. Ward.

The manuscript was shared with Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Northland manager Bill Edwards, who immediately recognised the importance of the document.

“A few years ago, our volunteer researchers Dr Bill Guthrie and Jack Kemp uncovered documentary evidence of a huge defence network that had been built in Northland in order to defend the country from a feared Japanese invasion,” he says.

“The defence network was top secret and the infrastructure disappeared as rapidly as it was erected although evidence of its physical presence was preserved in files that volunteer researchers discovered in archives.

“What has been largely missing, though, are personal recollections of time spent in these facilities and Cary Ward’s recollections help fill some of those gaps.

“Cary joined the US Navy on March 23, 1942, enduring boot camp with the other young recruits. His military career changed when he signed up to become a pharmacist’s mate.

“This role entailed medical training both in the treatment and prevention of diseases. After graduating as a hospital corpsman, he was posted with the US Marine Corps and found himself deployed to New Zealand in June 1942.”

A Journey to War records the impact of the Americans’ arrival on June 12, 1942, describing it as “The American invasion of Auckland”. Both sides would never be quite the same again.

US Marine Cary Ward who was stationed at a camp in Maungaturoto during 1942.

Cary and his comrades disembarked from the ship and were ordered to fall into formation in the docking area.

“When all was ready, they were marched through the winding streets of the city and down to the railroad station where they boarded a train for the town of Whangarei. Upon arrival, Cary’s 2nd Battalion was sent to the encampment at Maungaturoto.”

Documentation of the Maungaturoto camp had already provided a fairly good idea of the scale of the camp and its facilities but A Journey to War provides a valuable description of the place from the perspective of a young soldier away from home.

“The camp had been prepared prior to the regiment’s arrival and was laid out with their dollhouse-like huts built in close quarters to each other. Each hut was about eight feet wide and sixteen feet long and housed four Marines each. It was totally devoid of any insulation and only had one dull light bulb hanging from the ceiling to illuminate its Spartan interior.”

Each hut had room for only four cots, four sea bags and with enough space left in the centre for the stove.

“The exterior was made of a plywood type material with each roof gabled. The core of each encampment was a large, roofed, open-sided concrete slab which contained all the plumbing facilities. The big open pavilion was the marketplace and community centre where the Marines met to hear the most recent rumours and exchange the latest scuttlebutt about the progress of the war...”

Even something as basic as food is another aspect of daily life that is now better understood thanks to the book.

“Marines were given two meals a day with menus containing such local staples as milk and mutton. The New Zealanders themselves went on voluntary rationing to give the American troops enough to eat. Besides the unlimited cold milk and fresh water, they were introduced to mutton, which the Yanks said tasted and looked somewhat like beef but to them it was wonderful if it didn’t come out of a can....”

As a fully trained medic, Cary Ward’s first encounter with serious war casualties took place when he was stationed at the Maungaturoto camp following an artillery practice that went wrong.

“... they got a call from battalion headquarters for all medical personnel to rush to ‘Dog Battery’ which had been involved in a firing exercise. Cary grabbed his medical kit and headed for the other battery as fast as he could. When he arrived, he found that there had been a ‘muzzle explosion’ and one man was killed outright, and several other crew members were badly wounded. Cary put battle dressings on the one Marine who was suffering from a serious chest wound. The victim had already been given morphine and others had started intravenous injections.”

The arrival of the American forces proved to be a clash of cultures. The brash Americans, nicknamed “Bedroom Commandos” by some disgruntled Kiwis, brought their own ways of doing things which included baseball tournaments, jazz concerts, dances and the Red Cross clubs where soldiers could get cheap hamburgers, doughnuts and unlimited bottles of ice-cold Coca-Cola.

American expectations were different from the New Zealanders, however. The basic problem is summed up in ,:

“The Americans were more familiar with a lively urban culture, whereas New Zealand cities were closed and deserted by early evening and on Sundays. So any American soldier lucky enough to have a Liberty Pass found it difficult to buy the alcohol beverages or the foods he craved past a certain time. There was also nowhere for them to dance or meet a young lady for a stroll about town during the usual hours they were on liberty.”

Attempts to integrate through sporting activities didn’t go well either.

“There were several efforts to play sports with some of the local New Zealand boys, all of which proved unsuccessful. There were tug-of-war competitions and on one occasion the Americans even tried to engage the Kiwi national sport called “rugby”. An American reporter witnessed the performance and could only describe it as a contest of mayhem in which the apparent object was to twist the head off the opponent and take the football away from them. But such international sporting events were rare and in general the Americans stuck to their own games.”

Cultural and sporting differences aside, the presence of the US Marines was generally appreciated by New Zealanders keenly aware of the potential threat of a Japanese invasion.

The brief, but surreal, 12 months for both sides came to an end in June 1943. Cary Ward and his regiment were ordered to pack up and march to the piers to board their ships for the next leg of their journey, this time heading towards Guadalcanal.

Bill Edwards says Cary Ward’s recollections help us understand what was going on in New Zealand as well as providing a very personal view of the American response to what would become a major military operation in the Pacific.