The 24th Auckland Battalion was an infantry battalion of the New Zealand Army during the Second World War. The 24th Battalion was formed on 1 February 1940 and embarked for Egypt on 28 October 1940. It was part of the 6th Infantry Brigade, part of the 2nd New Zealand Division. The battalion fought in Greece, North Africa and Italy. After the conclusion of hostilities, the battalion was disbanded in December 1945.

Formation 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. Following consultation 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, which would require nine battalions of infantry. Consequently, several infantry battalions were formed from 1939 to 1940 with New Zealand volunteers and these would eventually be sent to the Middle East, the expected deployment area of the 2nd New Zealand Division.

The 24th Battalion was formed on 1 February 1940 at Narrow Neck Military Camp with personnel drawn largely from the Auckland region. It was the first of three infantry battalions that formed part what was initially known as the Third Echelon of the 2NZEF and which would later be designated the 6th Infantry Brigade of the 2nd New Zealand Division. Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Clayden Shuttleworth, of the New Zealand Staff Corps, a cadre of 150 officers and non-commissioned officers underwent training aimed to prepare them for the task of preparing the volunteers that would make up the bulk of the battalion's personnel. After an initial period at Narrow Neck, the men moved to Papakura Military Camp where the main draft of the battalion arrived on 15 May 1940 for training.

With an establishment of around 780 men, the battalion was organised into four rifle companies, designated A through to D, a headquarters company consisting of specialised personnel such as signals and a battalion headquarters. The rifle companies were organised along provincial lines; men from the Auckland region were generally placed in A Company, while those from the Hauraki, North Auckland and Waikato were assigned to B, C, and D Companies respectively.

The battalion embarked for active service on 28 August 1940, boarding the Empress of Japan. It arrived in the Middle East on 29 September and entrained for the 2NZEF base at Maadi, in Egypt. It drilled and practiced field tactics for the next several months, escalating to brigade level exercises by the end of the year.

Greece The British Government anticipated an invasion of Greece by the Germans in 1941 and decided to send troops to support the Greeks. The 2nd New Zealand Division was one of a number of Allied units dispatched to Greece in early March. The battalion departed Egypt over the period 13 to 15 March and, on arriving in Greece, began to move north. The 6th Infantry Brigade was tasked with the defence of the coastal portion of the Aliakmon Line in northern Greece, with the 24th Battalion preparing and manning the defences around the village of Skala Elevtherokhorion. In Katerini, while en route to its allocated position, the battalion suffered its first casualty, when an enlisted man was accidentally shot. He was buried in the local cemetery.

On 26 March, the battalion reached their positions on 26 March 1941 and began fortifying them. Shuttleworth positioned his headquarters in the village of Palaio Eleftherochori, close to the railway line on the Greek eastern coast near the Gulf of Salonika. The rifle companies were positioned next to the railway and the main north road. Their right was on the coast and their left four miles inland, at the positions of the 25th Battalion. To the 25th's left was 4th Brigade. On 27 March, the 19th and 26th Battalions, each missing one company, were sent back to Olympus Pass to dig positions for 5th Brigade. The division's front was 28,000 yards, held by the seven battalions of 4th and 6th Brigades less three detached companies. The battalion's positions were on high ground, with the left of the sector wooded. However, the right sector was in open country and usable by armoured vehicles, so an anti-tank ditch was placed on the line of the Toponitsa stream, where the 6th Brigade lines were. They were supported by the artillery of the 4th and 5th Field Regiments. To the north of this was the Aliakmon River, whose bridges were mined by the 1st British Armoured Brigade.

By the beginning of April, the 26th Battalion was replaced by the 23rd Battalion at Olympus Pass and was positioned between the 24th and 25th. The New Zealand Divisional Cavalry Regiment was on the Aliakmon River. After the German invasion of Greece on 6 April, the 24th Battalion occupied its battle positions and the bridge over the anti tank ditch north of the village of Skala Eleftherochoriou was destroyed. The Divisional Cavalry also blew up the Aliakmon crossings later the same nigh. Refugees from the north blocked roads and panicked the local villages, who attempted to flee, but were stopped by the intervention of Shuttleworth. On 10 April, 24 Battalion, leaving two rifle platoons and the Carrier Platoon as rearguard, retreated to Ganochora, three miles north of Katerini. 6th Brigade was now in the rear of 5th Brigade. The battalion bivouacked at the village of Agios Dimitrios and marched westward to Livadhion. The battalion was then ordered to a position near Skoteina, which was between the 28th (Maori) Battalion and the 16th Australian Brigade. After reaching Skoteina, the 24th Battalion was suddenly recalled to Livadhion to cover the retreat of the ANZAC Corps.

The 24th Battalion defended a position near Elasson. The road out of Elasson forked into two branches and ran for three miles across a level plain. The eastern branch then climbed abruptly over a steep ridge. The western branch made a wider loop to Tyrnavos that was suitable for armoured vehicles. As a result of this, B Company was detached under command of the 25th Battalion for its defence. The other companies made positions on the east road with C Company on the right, D Company on the centre and A Company on the left on a ridge overlooking the plain of Elasson. The ridge was rocky, which meant that trenches could not be dug and the troops could only build rock walls. Three sections of the Carrier Platoon were detached on 17 April to Tyrnavos to protect a troop of 25 pdr guns. On 18 April, German tanks attacked. The remaining Bren Gun Carriers were on the plain, but were withdrawn to the rear under fire from both Australian and German batteries. After the carriers were in the rear, the east road was blown. However, the explosives had practically no effect on the road, but there was no time to bring up more explosives, so the road was left in that state. At dusk, 40 German tanks and 20 troop carrying lorries came out of Elasson and advanced along the east road. They were shelled by Australian artillery, dispersing the lorries. The tanks stopped at the road crater as the battalion withdrew down the road at night to Nea Anchialos on the Gulf of Volos. The third platoon of D Company engaged the tanks without much success with a Boys anti-tank rifle in the dark. Facing German air attacks, the battalion foot marched and then motor marched to a position slightly south of Molos.

On 21 April, trucks carried the battalion to its position in the coastal sector of the Thermopylae Line. After the surrender of the Greek forces in Epirus, plans were changed. Now, the 6th Brigade was to hold the line for two days until the night of 24 April, then retreat and embark at Chalcis. On 24 April, German motorcyclists, followed by tanks and motorized infantry, attacked down the Lamia road. The tanks were destroyed by the Australian artillery, but the German infantry attempted to turn 25 Battalion's flank, which was refused. However, pressure upon the 25th's left forced them to give ground. As a result, 24 Battalion was realigned in the afternoon and the troops commenced destroying equipment that could not be removed. The infantry companies retreated as scheduled towards the Peloponnese beaches, as plans had been changed because of the German advance. The 24th Battalion took positions around Tripolis in response to German paratroop drops on the Isthmus of Corinth. Two platoons and portions of two others from A and B Companies went to Kalamata instead, where they were captured. The 24th Battalion retreated to Monemvasia, where they embarked in the predawn darkness of 29 April on HMS Ajax and the destroyers HMS Hotspur and HMS Havock. At dawn the ships reached Suda Bay, where the destroyers transferred the soldiers on board to the transport Comliebank. Ajax reached Alexandria on 30 April, where most of the battalion on board was driven to Amiriya Camp. Meanwhile, the transport did not arrive at Port Said until 2 May. Both groups rejoined each other at Helwan on 6 May. During the Greek campaign, 24th Battalion had suffered casualties of 138 captured, 6 killed and 6 wounded.

North Africa

After a period of refitting, disrupted by a move to near the Suez Canal to defend a possible attack, the battalion shifted to the Baggush Box in September 1941. Here the battalion underwent training in desert warfare in preparation for its role in the upcoming Operation Crusader, planned to lift the siege of Tobruk. The 2nd New Zealand Division was one of the infantry divisions of the Eighth Army that was to surround and capture the main strong points along the front while the armoured divisions was to seek out and engage Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps. At the same time, the Tobruk garrison was to attempt a breakout. In November, the 6th Brigade moved to its starting positions in Libya to be held in reserve while the initial part of the offensive commenced.

Sidi Rezegh The brigade entered the fray on 21 November, with 24th Battalion leading the advance of the brigade to Bir el Hariga, while 4th Brigade targeted the Bardia-Tobruk highway and 5th Brigade the area around Bardia and Sollum. However, the following day, the 6th Brigade was ordered to advance to Point 175, set up a perimeter and then make contact with the 5th South African Brigade at Sidi Rezegh, which was in some difficulty. Leaving early in the morning of 23 November, Shuttleworth led his battalion along the correct route and reached the appropriate waypoint by dawn. However, the two other battalions of the brigade had bivouacked in the wrong area, in a wadi rather than along the ridge on which 24th Battalion had been advancing. Taking his battalion into the wadi from one end, Shuttleworth realised that elements of the Afrika Korps were moving into the wadi from the other end. This initiated a battle in which the battalion, having appreciated the situation more quickly than the Germans, took 200 prisoners.