UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS IN NEW ZEALAND 1942-43. CITATIONS

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.

In this silent footage, a regiment of US Marines is gathered on the Wellington Docks in front of an American warship. The camera pans slowly to reveal all the men, both on the dock and on the deck of the ship. An officer speaks into a microphone giving citations for a few of the men. It appears that three Marines are given a special citation for an unknown act, and the shot closes with them posing with a medal.