Cyclone Harold has uncovered a treasure trove of US military relics from World War II, giving military historians an insight into the war efforts that took place in Vanuatu as well as the daily lives that US service personnel led.

Bradley Wood, chairman of Elwood J Euart Association that heads up the South Pacific World War II Museum, said the items were washed out of embankments along various coastal shorelines in Vanuatu when the cyclone hit.

Among the finds were a brass flashlight, numerous bottles, various brass and bronze fittings, uniform belt buckles, silver coins and a data plate from a US Navy 10-man balsawood and canvas life raft.

"There were a few local houses out there that were completely destroyed and washed inland by about 40 metres.

"So there's this new beachline 40 metres further inland from where the original beach was, and on that were all sorts of artefacts, small and large."

The week-long, category five storm that hit Vanuatu last month destroyed homes, cut off power and killed dozens in four Pacific island countries.

Local disaster teams in Vanuatu estimated up to 90 per cent of homes in the country's second-largest town, Luganville, were damaged.

Items found at three sites

Two of the sites exposed by the cyclone — Aore and Million Dollar Point — were old dump sites for US military personnel.

While Million Dollar Point was already known to the museum as a dump site, Aore was a discovery revealed by the storm.

The personal items found there, including old razors, coke bottles, taps, silver coins and even a bottle of old spice, give a window into the personal lives of US soldiers while stationed in Vanuatu.

A game of marbles was also found as well as fire bricks suggesting some sort of a kiln or bakery may have been built into the embankment at some point.

The other major site was the US military Luganville Seaplane Base that was known to the museum team as being "somewhere in that location", but its exact layout had been unclear.

"The cyclone eroded the beach line and exposed certain reference points that actually now make the picture really clear," Mr Wood said.

One key find was a runway that ran from the water to the beach and was used to bring seaplanes on to land for refuelling and maintenance.

The matting that acted as a ramp or runway had been buried in the sand and covered further by trees that grew over the location.

The storm uprooted the trees and exposed the site.

Exhaust manifolds and exhaust suppresses for the American sea planes were also found, along with an "aircraft float marker".

After some investigation, Mr Wood said this had been used "to locate aircraft and downed pilots during the war" by the Australian, New Zealand and US air forces.

"They dropped these out of the plane and they would let off a smoke signal as well as light signal at night," he said, adding that the finds have helped "put pieces of the military puzzle together".

"It's really interesting the sort of little untold stories that are coming back to life because of … these artefacts."

While teams do carry out excavations, Mr Wood said the cyclone certainly sped things up by digging out the bank, washing the artefacts and spreading them out on the beach.

"I was actually only there for a small period of time, but there's certainly a lot more things to be found."

The discoveries will be on display as part of the South Pacific World War II Museum collection when it reopens after coronavirus restrictions are lifted.