35 Bty
37 Bty
Headquarters
17 Field Regt
28 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regt
29 Light Anti-Aircraft Regt
33 Heavy Regt
38 Field Regt
144 Independent Battery
53 Anti-Tank Battery
54 Anti-Tank Battery
4 Survey Troop
Artillery Training Depot
Norfolk Island, N Force
|
In 1940, 35 Bty and 37 Bty were sent to Fiji to prepare defences as part of the 8th Brigade Group. With the bombing of Pearl Harbour in 1941 and the entry of the USA into the war, American troops arrived in Fiji. The New Zealand units returned home briefly and were reassigned to the new 17 Field Regiment of the Third New Zealand Division.
The Third New Zealand Division was formed in 1942 when the brigade group was expanded to counter the Japanese war in the Pacific. The divisional artillery was commanded by Brig CSJ Duff, DSO. They fought fanatical Japanese in the jungles and islands of the Pacific, in conditions of tropical heat, severe humidity, torrential rain, mud, mosquitoes and disease. On their return to New Zealand in 1944 the Division was disbanded.
A variety of guns was employed including, among others, 3.7-in, 4.5-in and 6-in howitzers, 40-mm Bofors, 18-pr, 25-pr, 60-pr, 155-mm, and 20-cwt heavy AA.
|
