Description
Book SynopsisIn 1939 more than 140,000 New Zealanders enlisted to fight overseas during World War II. Of these, 104,000 served in the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Initially thrown into the doomed campaign to halt the German blitzkrieg on Greece and Crete (1941), the division was rebuilt under the leadership of MajGen Sir Bernard Freyberg, and became the elite corps within Montgomery’s Eighth Army in the desert. After playing a vital role in the victory at El Alamein (1942) the ‘Kiwis’ were the vanguard of the pursuit to Tunisia. In 1943–45 the division was heavily engaged in the Italian mountains, especially at Cassino (1944); it ended the war in Trieste. Meanwhile, a smaller NZ force supported US forces against the Japanese in the Solomons and New Guinea (1942–44). Fully illustrated with specially commissioned colour plates, this is the story of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force’s vital contribution to Allied victory in World War II.
Table of ContentsIntroduction /Chronology /Campaigns: Greece 1941 – Crete 1941 – 2nd NZ Division in North Africa 1941–43, and Italy 1943–45 – 3rd NZ Division in Solomons and New Guinea 1942–44 /Commanders /Composition and organization: command structure – brigade structure – battalions – training/ Uniforms, weapons and equipment /Plate commentaries /Bibliography /Index
