US marines in Wellington in 1942 on a train to Paekakariki.

They were "overpaid, oversexed and over here". And some of the United States troops in Wellington during World War II were also overly prejudiced against Maori, writes Tom Hunt.

When the "bedroom commandos" stormed Wellington, the violence was deadly.

Not as deadly as the bloodshed in Europe and Japan at the time, but lives would end all the same.

Alexander Turnbull Library reference 1/4-000374-F US troops photographed by John Pascoe on the Wellington waterfront in 1943.

It was World War II and many New Zealand men were serving and dying overseas. In their place, United States troops arrived in their tens of thousands for training, or for rest and relaxation.

Between 1942 and 1944, an estimated 50,000 set up camp in New Zealand. In Wellington they were accommodated in two large camps in Paekakariki and others in Pauatahanui, Judgeford Valley and Titahi Bay.

But all was not happy, and never before was this more evident than on April 3, 1943 - 72 years ago yesterday.

The fracas would go down in history as the Battle of Manners St.

Wellington historian Redmer Yska said it was a Saturday night when the riot began in the Allied Services' Club in Manners St, which would later become a post office.

A small minority of racist US servicemen from the southern states blocked Maori - "Black Curs", as they described them - from buying a drink. They told them they could not ride in trams and could walk only in back streets.

"When the Yanks removed their belts, Kiwi servicemen waded in. It was all on," Yska said.

"The 'battle' spread into the streets. Tough US military police, who arrived to restore order, took sides and used their batons.

"The fighting spread to the ANA Club in Willis St, where belts and knives were used, and into Cuba St.

"More than 1000 US and Kiwi troops joined in, as well as several hundreds of civilians. It was four hours before order was restored.

"Many US soldiers were injured, with at least two killed."

The riot was hushed up, but there were hints. The following Monday's Evening Post covered a "Disturbance in Cuba St".

A young man - a former Royal New Zealand Air Force member - was convicted in court of being drunk and disorderly.

"Police evidence was that the man was inciting a crowd in Cuba St about 11.20pm on Saturday when a large crowd had congregated and there was trouble with members of the armed forces.

"The accused said he was very drunk at the time."

He was fined £2 - $167 in today's money.

The riot, and others in Auckland and one outside the Mayfair Cabaret on Cuba St on May 12, 1945, were a symptom of conflict between locals and "sophisticated and affluent 'invaders' who cut a swath through 'our' women folk", Yska said

They were dubbed "bedroom commandos".

"Overpaid, oversexed and over here" was a common term of derision, and about 1500 Kiwi women would end up marrying visiting US servicemen.

The prostitution and alcohol industries also boomed during the visitors time in Wellington, Yska said.

Authorities were "tearing their hair out" as girls moved to town to sell sex.

The violent clashes were largely hushed up and little was known about them, largely because of a government-ordered press blackout. But in 2011, The Dominion Post delved into Archives NZ records showing all was far from quiet behind the scenes

A 1944 letter from the secretary of the Auckland Returned Services Association to the defence minister appealed for intervention.

"At a dance recently held in Avondale, a number of these servicemen attended with bouquets of flowers which at a later stage they stripped and disclosed blackjacks [small clubs].

"It is notable that when attacks are made by these men, sometimes brutal attacks, they are made by a number of Americans against a single person."

The same documents included a confidential memo from Britain to New Zealand showing just how racist the United States was in the 1940s.

"The Americans are making a great experiment in working out a democratic way of life . . . It is a difficult task and it is not for us to embarrass them, even if we have different views on how race relationships should be treated in our own country and in the empire."

The documents also noted: "Be friendly and sympathetic towards the coloured American troops - but remember that they are not accustomed in their own country to close and intimate relationships with white people."

More than 70 years later, a cynic might argue things are not much better now.