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 partisans also present in the city withdrew. Not required for service in the Pacific theatre of operations, the regiment was disestablished in late 1945.
Formation and training 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. 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 and consequently, several infantry battalions were formed from 1939 to 1940 with New Zealand volunteers.
The 20th Battalion was the third such unit 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. 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. 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.
Initial training focused on basic drill and fitness along with shooting. The men of 20th Battalion also engaged in company level tactical exercises but did not have training in infantry support weapons, such as anti-tank rifles, as these were not available in New Zealand. The battalion departed for the Middle East on 5 January 1940 aboard HMT Dunera as part of the 4th Infantry Brigade, 2nd New Zealand Division. The battalion arrived at its base in Maadi, Egypt on 14 February,and was involved in further training, including brigade level exercises. It also received its infantry support weaponry, such as the Bren light machine gun, Boys anti-tank rifle and Two-inch mortar. As well as training, the battalion performed garrison duty at a defensive position known as the Baggush Box, in the Western Desert and guarding the route between Alexandria and Mersa Matrush, rotating in and out with the other battalions of the 4th Brigade, for most of the next 12 months.
Greece The British Government anticipated an invasion of Greece by the Germans in 1941 and decided to send troops to support the Greeks, who were already engaged against the Italians in Albania. The 2nd New Zealand Division was one of a number of Allied units dispatched to Greece in early March. The 4th Brigade was tasked with the defence of the Aliakmon Line in northern Greece, with the 20th Battalion preparing and manning the defences along the western end of the line. On 6 April, the Germans invaded Greece and their advance was so rapid that it quickly threatened the Florina Gap. The 4th Brigade was withdrawn to the Servia Pass where it manned defences that were superior to its previous positions.
On 13 April, the battalion suffered its first fatality as a result of enemy action when a soldier was killed in an air raid and the following day, German forces reached the Servia Pass. The brigade, temporarily under the control of the Australian 6th Division, defended its positions for three days before being withdrawn. The battalion was the rearguard of the brigade as it withdrew, with Kippenberger coordinating the demolition of several bridges and avoiding contact with the advancing German armour. The 4th Brigade was used to cover the withdrawal of the division from Greece, and moved to Porto Rafti, east of Athens, from where it was evacuated to Crete on 28 April.
Some personnel of the battalion at a reinforcement depot in Athens ended up at the port of Kalamata, in the southwest of the country. These soldiers, along with other reinforcements, were integrated into an adhoc battalion. One of them, Sergeant Jack Hinton, was instrumental in clearing a wharf at Kalamata that had been captured by advance elements of the 5th Panzer Division. He was later awarded a Victoria Cross (VC) for his actions during this engagement, during which he was wounded and, along with most of the other personnel involved, was made a prisoner of war. By the end of the campaign in Greece, the battalion had 24 personnel killed in action or died of wounds; 80 others were prisoners of war.
Crete On Crete, it became apparent that the island would be the target of German landings from the air and sea. Freyberg took over command of Creforce, tasked with the defence of Crete, with the New Zealanders, temporarily commanded by Brigadier Edward Puttick in Freyberg's absence, responsible for the area around Chania and Maleme, including the airfield. The 20th Battalion was detached from the 4th Brigade to form part of a new ad hoc 10th Infantry Brigade. While Kippenberger led this brigade, his nominal second-in-command, Lieutenant Colonel Jim Burrows, was in charge of the 20th Battalion for most of the Battle of Crete. The battalion was soon detached from the 10th Brigade to serve as the divisional reserve, in anticipation of a counterattack role should the Germans land on Crete.
On 20 May 1941, the opening day of the invasion of Crete, the battalion was positioned to the east of the town of Galatas where it was watching the coast due to the risk of a seaborne invasion. It dealt with several Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers) that landed near them. On 22 May, the battalion was used in a counterattack on Maleme airfield, which had been occupied by the Germans the previous day. Puttick was reluctant to release the battalion until it had been replaced in the line; he anticipated the Germans would mount a naval landing later in the evening. The delayed arrival of the relief unit meant that the 20th Battalion was late to its starting position. The counterattack, which also involved the 28th Battalion, commenced at 3:30 am. After a promising start, where the C and D companies of 20th Battalion reached the perimeter of the airfield by 7:30 am, they had to withdraw as their positions were too exposed in daylight hours. The counterattack resulted in heavy casualties, although not as high as the Germans' own losses. It also resulted in an award of a VC to Lieutenant Charles Upham for his actions during the attack on Maleme airfield.
When Galatas fell to the Germans on 25 May, the 20th Battalion was in danger of being cut off. It successfully regrouped and assisted in the recapture of the town. The battalion withdrew on 26 May, which marked the beginning a retreat to Hora Sfakion, on the southwest coast of Crete, for evacuation. Kippenberger rejoined the battalion after his previous command, the 10th Brigade, was disestablished after the Allies' temporary re-capture of Galatas. On arrival at the evacuation beaches, it was found that there was insufficient room on the Australian destroyers that were the designated transport for all of the battalion's personnel. The bulk of the battalion departed on 30 May although Kippenberger was forced to select 40 men to stay behind and form a rearguard under the command of Burrows. After manning defensive positions to prevent Germans infiltrating the cordon around the embarkation beaches, the rearguard was evacuated the following day. The battalion lost 80 soldiers killed or died of wounds on Crete and nearly 90 were made prisoners of war.
North Africa The 20th Battalion was evacuated to Egypt, having lost over half its original complement of personnel during the Greece and Crete campaigns. After a short period of rest, Kippenberger set about bringing the battalion back up to strength and fighting efficiency. Nearly 400 replacements joined the battalion in mid-June and stragglers, separated from the battalion for various reasons during the previous two months while in Greece and Crete, continued to arrive for several weeks as they made their way across the Mediterranean by various means, including small sailboats. By mid-June, the battalion was at full strength and several weeks were then spent at the battalion's previous positions at Baggush, engaged in intensive desert warfare training. The 2nd New Zealand Division was now preparing for a role in the upcoming Libyan offensive, and several divisional and brigade level exercises were carried out. By October 1941, Kippenberger felt that morale in his 20th Battalion was at a peak and it was ready for action.
Operation Crusader
In November 1941, the 2nd New Zealand Division participated in Operation Crusader as part of the British Eighth Army's advance into Libya. The offensive was intended to relieve the siege of Tobruk and force the Axis forces from the Cyrenaica region of Libya. Leading the 4th Brigade on 21 November, the 20th Battalion cut the road between Bardia and Tobruk and attacked several German trucks, one being a vehicle that had been abandoned by the New Zealanders in Greece and put into German service. While the 4th Brigade continued to advance, the battalion stayed to cover the road, occasionally intercepting and destroyed lightly armoured vehicles of the 21st Panzer Division, until 23 November at which time it was relieved and placed in reserve.