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The Warkworth Museum will commemorate 80 years since the US Army’s friendly invasion of Warkworth during World War II with a special celebration on Saturday September 24.
The day will include an official reopening of the new US Army Hut exhibition, displays by the Military Re-enactment Society of New Zealand and music by the Warkworth Big Band.
Re-enactment Society spokesperson Chris Bass says about 12 members will at the event and will bring World War II US military vehicles, including a Dodge weapons carrier truck and about six jeeps, a camp set-up and military items such as reproduction firearms.
Warkworth was swamped by the arrival of several thousand United States Army personnel during the war. The soldiers were camped at various locations around the district including Pakiri and Kaipara Flats, with a large encampment in Anderson Road, Matakana.
Two of the dozens of army huts in these local camps are on permanent display outside at the Warkworth Museum. They were used for baches at Whangateau after the war, and originally came from the Kaipara Flats camp.
But weathering had taken its toll and the roofs weren’t watertight any more.
Museum manager Victoria Joule approached the United States Embassy for a diplomacy grant, which was approved.
The grant, worth $10,000, allowed the museum to replace the roofs, give the huts a coat of paint and treat them for rot damage. An audio recording of locals’ memories of wartime Warkworth has been installed in one hut and a display in the other.
Bass says there is very little to remind people today of where the camps were, just some foundations on one farm and some dug out practice fox holes at Kaipara Flats.
“The Ara Tuhono Puhoi to Warkworth motorway has also gone through some of the camp sites,” he says.
Both New Zealand and Australia hosted US personnel during the war for training, rest and relaxation, as well as providing care for the wounded.
The museum open day will run from 10am to 3pm, with entry to the museum by donation.
