Battle of Manners Street
| Battle of Manners Street | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 3 April 1943 | ||
| Location | Manners Street, Wellington, New Zealand 41°17′25″S 174°46′33″E / 41.2904°S 174.7757°E | ||
| Caused by | U.S. Army soldiers refusal to allow entrance of New Zealand Army Māori soldiers to the Allied Services Club | ||
| Methods | Rioting, race riots, protests, looting, attacks | ||
| Parties | |||
| |||
| Number | |||
| |||
| Casualties | |||
| Death(s) | 0 confirmed, 2 possible Americans | ||
| Injuries | Dozens on both sides | ||
| Arrested | 1 New Zealand serviceman | ||
The Battle of Manners Street refers to a riot involving hundreds of American servicemen and New Zealand servicemen and civilians outside the Allied Services Club in Manners Street, Te Aro, Wellington in 1943.[1] The club was a social centre, open to all military personnel.
Background
[edit]During 1942–1944, between 15,000 and 45,000 American servicemen were stationed in New Zealand, mostly in camps in or near Auckland and Wellington.[2][3] There were cultural differences between Americans and New Zealanders. New Zealand women found the US servicemen to be handsome and polite, and they had more money than New Zealand soldiers.[4] This led to romantic liaisons between American troops and New Zealand women, sparking calls of an "American invasion".[2] Many New Zealand soldiers resented the idea of relationships between New Zealanders and American soldiers, leading to tense relations between the two parties.[5]
Another source of tension was US servicemen's attitudes towards Māori. White soldiers from the American south were not comfortable socialising with Māori soldiers.[6] In 1942 the government published a guide book for US servicemen, titled Meet New Zealand Guide, which reminded the Americans that "the Maori today occupy a position in society socially and politically equal to that of any pakeha or white New Zealander".[7]
The Allied Services Club was set up in the former Waldorf Restaurant in Manners Street in July 1942, as a place where soldiers could socialise and get a meal. The club was staffed by volunteers and featured a buffet counter, a dance floor, a lounge and an inquiries office. The club was intended primarily for soldiers from overseas, but was open to anyone serving in the war.[8][9]
Riot
[edit]Some American servicemen in the Services Club objected to Māori soldiers also using the Club, and on 3 April 1943 began stopping Māori soldiers from entering. Many New Zealand soldiers in the area, both white and Māori, combined in opposition. The stand-off escalated when Americans took off their belts to attack those who wanted to let the Māori in.[10] Fights broke out and at one point at least a thousand servicemen, as well as several hundreds of civilians, were involved in the subsequent fracas, which was broken up by civil and military police. The major brawl lasted from 6 pm to 8 pm, with some brawls lasting for perhaps another two hours. Dozens of people were injured. The fighting spread to the ANA (Army, Navy, and Air Force) Club in Willis Street and to Cuba Street. At the time, hotel bars closed at 6 pm, the six o'clock swill, and inebriated patrons were then ejected into the streets.[11][12]
News of the riot was censored at the time, hence much of the mythology about the event, including the claim that two Americans were killed remain hard to verify.[1][11]
Other riots
[edit]Around the same time as the Battle of Manners Street a similar riot between American and New Zealand service men was taking place in Auckland and one month later during the Mayfair Cabaret, in Cuba Street, Wellington, on 12 May 1945 another riot took place.[1] Later in October, a group of American servicemen and Māori civilians came to blows at Ōtaki in October 1943.[1]
See also
[edit]- The Battle of Brisbane, a similar riot in Australia, 1942
- Zoot Suit Riots in 1943 in Los Angeles
- Battle of Bamber Bridge, a similar riot in England, June 1943
Bibliography
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ a b c d McLintock 2009
- ^ a b Ministry for Culture and Heritage (28 May 2024). "American invasion, 1942–1944". New Zealand History. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
- ^ Ministry for Culture and Heritage (12 June 2023). "Page 4 - The camps". New Zealand History. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
- ^ Ministry for Culture and Heritage (12 June 2023). "Page 7 - Yankee boys, Kiwi girls". New Zealand History. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
- ^ Foster, Bernard John (23 April 2009). "RIOTS - The Battle of Manners Street, Wellington, 1943". Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Archived from the original on 14 May 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
- ^ Ministry for Culture and Heritage (12 June 2023). "Page 9 – Americans and Māori". New Zealand History. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
- ^ Beaglehole, J. C. (1942). Meet New Zealand Guide. Department of Internal Affairs.
- ^ "General's opinion". Evening Post. 15 July 1942 – via Papers Past.
- ^ "New services club". The Dominion. 15 July 1942 – via Papers Past.
- ^ Banning 1988, p. 40
- ^ a b Francis 2011
- ^ Hunt 2015
References
[edit]- Banning, William (1988). Heritage Years: Second Marine Division Commemorative Anthology, 1940-1949, Volume 1 (1988 ed.). Turner Publishing Company. ISBN 9780938021582. - Total pages: 191
- Francis, Clio (13 August 2011). "The battle of Manners St". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
- Hunt, Tom (3 April 2015). "Battle of Manners St: US wartime invasion had racist side". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
- McLintock, A. H. (23 Apr 2009). "The Battle of Manners Street, Wellington, 1943". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- Ministry for Culture and Heritage (5 Aug 2014). "US forces in New Zealand". Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- The Yanks are Coming: The American Invasion of New Zealand 1942-1944 by Harry Bioletti (1989, Century Hutchinson, Auckland) ISBN 1-86941-034-3
- United States Forces in New Zealand 1942-1945 by Denys Bevan (1992, Macpherson Publishing, Alexandra) ISBN 0-908900-07-4