AMERICAN FORCES

Waikato Times, Volume 194, Issue 22244, 13 January 1944, Page 4

AMERICAN FORCES

ARRIVAL DATE MADE KNOWN WELLINGTON, Wednesday When did the American forces first land in New Zealand? They had been six months in the country before the Washington authorities gave permission to the newspapers to mention what had been quite obvious to many thousands of New Zealanders for a long time, though they never said a word in print about the big happenings. The news was first published early in December, 1942, but how long the visitors had already been in the Dominion was not hinted at. The date of their first landing was May 30, 1942. It is possible to be explicit today because a number of highly important dates relating to Pacific movements have been made public in a renort of General George A. Marshall, Chief of the Staff of the United States Army. United States forces first landed on British soil in the South Pacific when they came to Australia after the Philippines campaign, on December 21, 1941. This was a critical moment for Australia and New Zealand, and our allies were promptly placed in Fiji, New Zealand's outer defence line, held by our troops. The Americans joined them on January 29, 1942. Next to see the Americans were our troops at New Caledonia, the landing date being March 12. United States forces continued to spread out among the islands of the South-west Pacific. Tonga was reached on May 9. and Samoa on May 30, 1942. Aitutaki. in the Cook Group, saw an American landing on November 14. 1942. The report also mentions the date of the first arrival of American forces in the British Isles—January 26, 1942.