US soldier 'buried in Auckand yard'

United States officials are investigating claims that the body of an American soldier from World War II is buried in the backyard of an Auckland, property.

New Zealand police have confirmed their staff are working on what could be a 60-year-old murder mystery.

The Herald on Sunday understands the claims came to light only this year, following the death of a New Zealander who identified himself as the killer of the soldier to a member of his family.

The man is believed to have told a family member he had fallen out with the American serviceman over a woman. There was a brawl, and the American died. The man then buried the soldier's body in the backyard of a house in Ponsonby.

"There is an unsubstantiated report of the possibility that a United States soldier was killed or went missing in the 1940s," a spokeswoman for Auckland police said.

"The report was from members of a family. We're trying to identify if the report is accurate in part or fully."

Police were checking with US authorities to see if there were records of servicemen who went missing while stationed in New Zealand.

A spokeswoman for the US Embassy in Wellington said officials were helping police to establish whether there was truth to the report.

"The New Zealand police have recovered some information and are trying to establish the reliability of that information."

Historian Harry Biolette said New Zealand men envied the American servicemen and often the tension erupted in fights.

"It was a man shortage situation during the war," said Mr Bioletti, who wrote the book The Yanks are coming: the American invasion of New Zealand, 1942-1944.

"They envied them because they had so much money and looked so smartly turned out. There were stoushes and fights."

Mr Biolette said because many American servicemen stayed in New Zealand for several months, many "well-established liaisons" occurred. About 1500 of them married local women.

Mr Bioletti recalls the American clubs in Auckland that were set up to entertain the troops, such as the Downtown Club in Customs St.

"The New Zealand girls used to go in there dressed in their gloves and their hats."

Val Wood, author of War Brides, recalls a neighbour in Pt Chevalier marrying a native American serviceman - known locally as "Chief" - one of many relationships that started between the servicemen and New Zealand women.

Jim McGeachen, who lived in Queen St until 1944, said he saw "incredibly bad fights around town" driven by New Zealanders jealous of the US soldiers.

"They were new, they were very attentive and they had the money," said Mr McGeachen, whose sister married an American serviceman.

"There was quite a bit of bad feeling at the time."

Historian Steven Ilkiw said the US administration kept its own records while in New Zealand, and took them with it when it left.

He has a full list of the 114 American servicemen who "officially" died in New Zealand, all of whom had their bodies returned to the US after the war.

Among those are Army Corporal Norman Klops, 28, who died after suffering a head injury in a "fight with a Maori" in 1942.

Technical Sergeant George Locarno, 30, was apparently murdered in Auckland Domain in 1944 and Joseph Shultz, 49, an oiler on an American ship, was stabbed in 1945.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY