2nd (NZ) Division |
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| On the outbreak of the war New Zealand committed to providing an New Zealand division for use in Europe. However, due to the very small size of the Regular Army, the division had to be raised in three echelons of roughly a brigade group, each about six months apart. By early 1941 the Division was assembled in Egypt, and ready for action. It was sent on the ill-fated mission to Greece in early 1941, with most of the Division was subsequently withdrawn to Crete. Defeated once again in the May airborne assault, the Division re-formed in the Nile Delta area and was again ready for action in time for Operation Crusader in November. Triumphant, though heavily blooded, the Division was then sent to Syria. Tasks there included occupation duties, preparing defences against a possible German thrust south out of Russia, and to rebuild its strength. Rushed forward after Rommel’s victory at Gazala and Tobruk in June 1942, the Division narrowly avoided encirclement at Minqar Qaim. It was prominent in the battles at El Alamein, and the Division again suffered heavy losses, eventually leading to 4th Bde being withdrawn due to heavy losses, and eventually re-roled as an armoured brigade. Following the successful breakout in November, the remaining parts of 2(NZ)Div advanced across North Africa all the way to Tunisia. At the end of hostilities in Africa the Division once again returned to the Nile Delta to rest, refit, and re-organise. In late 1943 the complete Division moved to Italy, and was involved in the winter fighting on the Adriatic coast. Early in 1944 the Division moved in great secrecy across to the Monte Cassino area, where it was engaged in a couple of fruitless offensives. After the breakthrough in May, 2(NZ)Div fought northwards towards Florence, then moved back to the Adriatic Coast. Over the winter of 1944-45 the Division again re-organised. 27th (Machine Gun) Battalion and the 2 NZ Divisional Cavalry Regiment were re-roled as New Zealand, and the Division fielded three New Zealand brigades and one armoured brigade for the final battles of 1945. In mid-April the offensive began and within days the Division, assaulting across a series of rivers, had broken through the German lines. The race was then on, and the Division didn’t stop until it reach Trieste in northeast Italy – where it almost became involved in the first battle of the Cold War with Communist Guerrillas from Yugoslavia. | |
