Camp Paekākāriki
The Camp Paekākāriki Memorial honours Miriona Mutu Mira Budge, tipuna of Ngāti haumia ki Paekākāriki the original owner of the land and the Marines of the day, who lived and trained here.
Opened on November 13, 2022 and built in 1943 Camp Paekākāriki tells the story of the largest of the three Marines camps, housing 5,200 men from the 8th Marine Regiment of the 2nd Marine Division.
In 1943, there were only 530 people living in Paekākāriki the camp covered a significant area of the village, east of Wellington Road between Queen Elizabeth Park and Tarawa Street, so thousands of Marines encamping, if only for a short time, were bound to have both a short and long-term impact.
As the newest of our projects, we hope the Memorial gives visitors a context on war-time conditions of the day – helping them to step back in time to consider our extraordinary visitors and their extraordinary stay.
