This is unedited raw film footage, shot by Academy Award winning US Marine cinematographer Norman T. Hatch for a US newsreel that was never completed, provisionally titled 'Meet New Zealand'. Around 21,000 Marines were stationed in camps around the Wellington region from June 1942 until November 1943. Most of their time was spent training hard preparing for the war in the Southwest Pacific against the Japanese.
From Tinakori Hill in the Wellington Town Belt, there is a clear view of Wellington Harbour and the many US warships that are docked along the quays are revealed with a wide pan of the camera. From the same vantage point, a look across the city, with the Dominion Museum and the National War Memorial Carillon in the middle distance. Again, the camera pans left to reveal the Wellington Harbour.
[Scene 89] A US Marine walks across Bunny Street to the Wellington Railway Station.
[Scenes 21-29] Marines at Camp McKay, Paekākāriki, carry out a series of physical exercise drills with their rifles.