New Zealand in WW2 (Second World War)...the 2nd NZEF

• Enlistment for the force started on 12 September and by the end of the day 5,419 men had volunteered.

On 18 September, the Maori people petitioned the Government for the establishment of a Maori unit for active service: recruiting began for 28 (Maori) Battalion on 9 October and the unit served with distinction with the 2nd, New Zealand Division in the Middle East and Italy.

The Middle East

Major General B. C. Freyberg, V.C., D.S.O., was appointed to command 2NZEF. He insisted on a "charter" which laid down his responsibilities to the New Zealand Government and which gave him considerable discretion in the administration and training of the force.

During the next nine months nearly 20,000 men embarked for overseas service in 2 NZEF. The First and Third Echelons landed in Egypt but the Second Echelon, on the high seas when Germany invaded France, was diverted to the United Kingdom and landed in Scotland on 16 June 1940.

Although some transport and signals elements took part in General Wavell's first Libyan campaign in December 1940, the 2nd New Zealand Division as a whole did not engage the enemy until the campaign in Greece in April 1941.

On 1 March 1941 the Germans had occupied Bulgaria and advanced towards the north-eastern border of Greece: in the meantime the Greek Army was fighting an exhausting campaign in Albania to the northwest against the Italians.

The 2nd Division was deployed to Greece during March, as part of an Allied force (W Force) to support the outnumbered and tired Greeks. The New Zealanders moved to north-eastern Greece by road and rail from Athens. Here 4 and 6 Brigades occupied a long 24-kilometre right flank sector of the Ahakmon Line south of the Ahakmon River: 5 Brigade holding a depth position about 16 kilometres to the south, near Mount Olympus.

On 6 April the Germans invaded Yugoslavia and Greece, immediately threatening to outflank the New Zealanders to the west. Two days later the New Zealanders were forced to start a withdrawal south, through the 5 Brigade position.

The New Zealanders continued to execute an excellent fighting withdrawal for 320 kilometres down the eastern seaboard of the Greek mainland, delaying the Germans, all the way. Between 2427 April, 4 and 5 Brigades were evacuated by the Navy from a port south-east of Athens and taken to Crete: 6 Brigade was evacuated from beaches south of Sparta on28 and 29 April,  being taken directly back to Alexandria in Egypt.

General Freyberg was evacuated to Crete on 28 April - he had "disregarded" an order for him to leave Greece on 23 April. On 30 April was appointed to command all British, Australian, and New Zealand troops on Crete - a total of about 28,600 men - most of whom were evacuees from Greece. Crete was to be defended as a strategic naval base in the eastern Mediterranean.

Scant time was provided to prepare the island for defence and on 20 May the Germans launched an airborne assault on Crete from airfields on the Greek mainland. Within ten days the Germans had taken Crete and over 13,000 men of Freyberg's command were dead or taken prisoner.

The New Zealanders, on the north-western edge of the island, had taken much of the initial brunt of the German attack and had been forced to withdraw, this time over the rugged central mountain spine of Crete, to the port of Sfaika in the south. Again the Royal Navy, against heavy odds, managed to evacuate thousands of weary soldiers back to Egypt.

The exhausted 2nd New Zealand Division regrouped in Egypt where its losses in Greece and Crete were replenished by reinforcements from New Zealand.

Acknowledged as a hazardous operation from the very start, the two months of April and May 1941 resulted in the deaths of 932 New Zealanders, 1,354 were wounded and evacuated and 4,036 were taken prisoner by the Germans: of the POWs, 730 had been wounded before capture. These casualty figures were second only to the appalling casualties suffered in 23 days on the Somme 25 years earlier.

By November 1941 the 2nd Division was again in action: this time as part of the 8th Army's second Libyan campaign in Cyrenaica to the west of Egypt. The aim was to entrap the German Afrika Corps. The Germans were however not trapped, nevertheless they were forced to withdraw to El Agheha. The Division suffered heavy casualties and was withdrawn from battle in December 1941.

There were growing fears at this time that the German invasion of Russia with a swing south through the Caucasus mountains, could result in a direct threat to Turkey and Syria.

Between February and June 1942, the Division was attached to the British 9th Army and occupied position in northern Syria. During this deployment, the New Zealanders became very aware of the actions of pro-Axis fifth column elements in Syria and the Syrians' dislike of French rule which, aside from that of Vichy France, the British were supporting.

A German advance in the Desert, the capture of Tobruk and an imminent threat of an Axis breakthrough to the Suez Canal, necessitated the speedy return of the 2nd Division to the 8th Army at Minqar Qaim on Egypt's western desert frontier. The move, over a distance of 1,500 kilometres, was achieved in a week.

Within days of the redeployment of the New Zealanders, the 8th Army was forced to withdraw. The 2nd Division at Minqar Qaim found itself surrounded by advancing German Panzer forces. Rather than surrender or accept capture, the Division executed a successful breakout and a fighting withdrawal from the encirclement on the night of 27-28 June. The division moved back to the Alamein Line, 160 kilometres west of Cairo. Despite heavy fighting during the ensuing months, the Alamein Line held fast.

On 23 October 1942, the 8th Army under the leadership of its new commander, General Montgomery, attacked the Germans at El Alamein. This successful attack was the start of an advance which rolled the Axis forces westwards across the desert and terminated in their surrender in Tunisia on 13 May 1943.

Italy

With the defeat of the German Afrika corps the New Zealanders were redeployed for service in Italy. In September 1943, the Division landed in Europe to fight a completely different kind of battle. Over the next 18 months it took part in severe fighting all the way up the Italian peninsula. Crossing of the Sangro River, the battle for Cassino in May 1944, the occupation of Rome on 4 June, of Florence on 4 August, action on the Gothic Line, action on the Adriatic coast and finally the advance to Trieste (occupied on 9 April 1945) are to name but the most notable actions the division was involved in. On 2 May 1945 German forces in Italy, after fighting a fierce rearguard finally surrendered.

Throughout its campaigning the soldiers of the Division had acquitted themselves well. The German 14 Panzer Corps post operation report after Cassino stated that:

"The New Zealand soldier is physically fit and strong. He is well-trained and formidable in close-range fighting and steadier than an Englishman. He does not shrink from hand-to hand fighting. In many cases strong points had to be wiped out to the last man, as they refused to surrender.

At the peak of its strength in February 1945 there were 34,953 New Zealanders serving with 2 NZEF in Europe. 

• Between 1940 and 1945, 6,068 died whilst on active service and 15,108 were wounded: 8,369 men were taken prisoner, of whom 513 died whilst in captivity.

The Pacific:

On 1 November 1940, the New Zealand Army's 8 Brigade landed in Fiji. It was the first time that a Crown Colony had been garrisoned by troops from one of the self-governing Dominions.

New Zealand formally declared war against Japan at 11 a.m. New Zealand Summer Time on 8 December 1941. A second brigade, 14 Brigade, was raised in New Zealand the following month. It was shipped to Fiji, where the combined brigades were given divisional status and officially titled B-Force 2NZEF.

On 14 May 1942, B-Force was re-titled the 3rd New Zealand Division and during June and July returned to New Zealand after being relieved by the US Army's 37th Division.

Back home the Division was reorganised and trained in jungle warfare. Major General H. E. Barrowclough was appointed General Officer Commanding 2NZEF in the Pacific (2NZEF EP) and the Division deployed by sea to New Caledonia in late 1942 and early 1943.

During this period New Zealand army detachments were stationed on Norfolk Island (N-Force) and Tonga (T-Force).

In August 1943, the 3rd New Zealand Division was deployed to an advanced base on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. A month later 14 Brigade landed on Vella Lavella and on 27 October 8 Brigade made a successful landing on islands in the Treasury Group. The ensuing operations to clear the islands of Japanese, resulted in fighting in appalling climatic and physical conditions. Vella Lavella was declared secure on 9 October and organised resistance by Japanese in the Treasury Islands ceased on 12 November 1943.

A 300-strong raiding party, most of whom were from 30 Battalion, made a night landing on Nissan Island in the Green Islands group on 30 January 1944. After reconnoitering for 24 hours, the group was withdrawn by sea. This was in preparation for a full-scale amphibious landing by the 3rd New Zealand Division (less 8 Brigade) and United States troops on 15 February. Organised Japanese resistance ceased on 20 February but mopping up operations continued until the end of the month.

Over the next few months the strength of the Division was depleted to provide reinforcements for the 2nd New Zealand Division in Italy and for the provision of manpower for essential industries in New Zealand.

The 3rd New Zealand Division was officially disbanded on  2O October 1944. 0n 14 August 1945 Japanese unconditionally accepted the Allied surrender terms.

At the peak of its strength in December 1943, there were 17,891 New Zealanders serving in 2NZEF IP. 

Two Hundred and three men of the 3rd New Zealand Division died whilst on active service and 213 were wounded: 26 men were taken prisoner of whom 19 died in captivity.

Casualties:

A total of 104,988 men and women served overseas with 2 NZEF during the Second World War: 6,839 died on active service and 16,543 were wounded.

New Zealand - the Home Front

The National Military Reserve was established in May 1939. In order to augment the Territorial Forces. Because of the number of volunteer units forming throughout the country, the War Cabinet approved of the establishment of a Home Guard in August 1940.

The object of the Guard was defined as being to "augment local defences by providing for static defence of localities, the protection of vulnerable and key points and to give timely notice of enemy movements to superior military authorities".

Limited equipment and wearing arm bands for identification, the Home Guard carried out valuable work in building tank traps and defensive works at the more vulnerable beaches.

The Army took control of the Home Guard in August 1941 and appointed former General Officer Commanding New Zealand Forces, Brigadier R. Young, as Director General.

From this time commissions were granted and by the end of 1942 all Home-guardsmen had been issued with battle dress and boots. The country was divided into 33 zones, each zone having a Regular Commander for the Territorial and Home Guard units. Tommy guns, machine guns, and rifles were issued in quantity.

After Japan's entry into the war, registration for the Home Guard was made compulsory for men of military age not already in the army and for men aged between 46 and 50. In December 1943, the war situation had improved sufficiently for the Home Guard to be placed on the Reserve. At the height of its strength in March 1943, the Home Guard numbered 124,194 men.

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