The 20th Battalion was a formation of the New Zealand Military Forces which served, initially as an infantry battalion and then as an armoured regiment, during the Second World War as part of the 2nd New Zealand Division.
The 20th Battalion was formed in New Zealand in 1939 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Howard Kippenberger. After a period of training it embarked for the Middle East and then onto Greece in 1941 as part of the 2nd New Zealand Division. It participated in the Battles of Greece and later in Crete. Evacuated from Crete, it then fought in the North African campaign with the British Eighth Army. It suffered heavy losses during Operation Crusader, when it was effectively destroyed by the 15th Panzer Division. Brought back up to strength, the battalion played a key role in the breakout of the 2nd New Zealand Division from Minqar Qaim in June 1942, where it had been encircled by the 21st Panzer Division. The following month, the battalion suffered heavy casualties during the First Battle of El Alamein.
In October 1942 the battalion was converted to an armoured unit and designated 20th Armoured Regiment. To replace men lost at El Alamein, personnel were drawn from a tank brigade being formed in New Zealand. The regiment spent a year in Egypt training with Sherman tanks, before embarking for Italy in October 1943 to re-join the Eighth Army. It participated in the Italian campaign, fighting in actions at Orsogna and later at Monte Cassino. The regiment finished the war in Trieste and remained there for several weeks until the large numbers of Yugoslav partisansalso present in the city withdrew. Not required for service in the Pacific theatre of operations, the regiment was disestablished in late 1945.
Following the outbreak of the Second World War, the New Zealand Government authorised the formation of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2NZEF), for service at home and abroad.[2] After consulting with the British Government, it was decided that the main New Zealand contribution to the war effort would be in the form of an infantry division, the 2nd New Zealand Division, under the command of Major General Bernard Freyberg. The new division would require nine battalions of infantry[3] and consequently, several infantry battalions were formed from 1939 to 1940 with New Zealand volunteers.[2]
The 20th Battalion was the third such unit[Note 1] to be raised for the 2NZEF and was formed in Christchurch at Burnham Military Camp on 6 October, with Lieutenant Colonel Howard Kippenberger, an experienced Territorial Force soldier and veteran of the First World War, as its commander.[5] It was the last of the three infantry battalions designated to make up the first echelon of the 2nd New Zealand Division, destined for overseas service.[6][Note 2] Its personnel, all volunteers, were from the South Island of New Zealand. They were formed into four rifle companies, designated A to D and corresponding to the Canterbury, Southland, Nelson-Marlborough-West Coast and Otago districts. A headquarters company included the specialist support troops; signallers, anti-aircraft and mortar platoons, and transport personnel.[7]