Somes Island quarantine station

Somes Island (Matiu) quarantine station in Wellington Harbour at the end of the First World War, when the facility was being used to quarantine returned soldiers who were suspected of carrying the influenza virus.

Shortly after this photograph was taken, the station was refurbished and extended to accommodate the large numbers of troops arriving by ship from overseas. During the war, Somes Island had been used to intern enemy aliens, including Germans and Dalmatians (Croatians), who were seen as a security threat to New Zealand.