19th Battalion (New Zealand)

The 19th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the New Zealand Military Forces, which served during the Second World War as part of the New Zealand 2nd Division.

19th Battalion
(19th Armoured Regiment)
Infantry of 19th Battalion linking up with the Tobruk garrison, 27 November 1941
Active1939–1945
Disbanded18 December 1945
Country New Zealand
Branch New Zealand Military Forces
TypeInfantry (1939 to 1942)
Armoured (1943 to 1945)
Size~760 personnel[1]
Part of4th Brigade, 2nd Division
EngagementsSecond World War
Battle of Greece
Battle of Crete
North African Campaign
Operation Crusader
First Battle of El Alamein
Italian Campaign
Battle of Monte Cassino

The 19th Battalion was formed in New Zealand in 1939 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel J. S. Varnham. 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 and suffered heavy losses during Operation Crusader. Brought back up to strength, the battalion participated 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 19th 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 join the Eighth Army. It participated in the Italian Campaign, fighting in actions at Orsogna and later at 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

The 19th Battalion was formed in New Zealand in 1939 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Varnham, a veteran who had commanded an infantry company during the First World War, and was the second of three infantry battalions making up the 4th Infantry Brigade.[Note 1] Its personnel were drawn from the lower half of the North Island of New Zealand and formed into Wellington, Wellington/West Coast, Hawke's Bay and Taranaki companies. Most of the personnel entered Trentham Camp on 3 October, with officers and non-commissioned officers of the battalion having commenced their training the previous week.[3][4]

After completing their initial training, the battalion departed on the liner RMS Strathaird for the Middle East on 5 January 1940 as part of the 4th Infantry Brigade, 2nd New Zealand Division.[1] The battalion arrived at its base in Maadi, Egypt on 14 February,[5] and was involved in training and garrison duty at Baggush for most of the next 12 months.[6]

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.[7] The 4th Infantry Brigade was tasked with the defence of the Aliakmon Line in northern Greece with the New Zealand Division positioned on the northern side of Mount Olympus. The 19th Battalion was the reserve for 4th Brigade and spent most of its time from late March to early April preparing roading and defensive positions.[8] On 6 April, the Germans invaded Greece and advanced so rapidly that their forces quickly threatened the Florina Gap. The 4th Infantry Brigade was withdrawn to the Servia Pass.[9]

The 19th Battalion was tasked with holding the mouth of the pass and spent the next few days digging in.[10] On 13 April, German Stukas bombed the battalion causing its first casualties of the war. The following day, German armour reached the Servia Pass.[11] The positions of the battalion's Wellington and Hawkes' Bay companies were the subject of an attack on the night of 14–15 April. The Germans were resolutely defended and at dawn, 120 of them were prisoners of war and another 150 or so were killed, while two men of the battalion were killed.[12] During the action, the battalion's commander, Varnham, was wounded and evacuated with its second-in-command, Major Blackburn, taking over for the next two months.[13] Despite artillery and bombing, the brigade continued to hold up the Germans for three days before being withdrawn.{{sfn|Sinclair|1954|pp=87–88)) Its new position was at Molos, near Thermopylae, which was reached after a bombing raid killed more personnel.[14] The battalion was charged with monitoring the coast for the new few days although one company was detached during this time and sent to Thermopylae to man defensive positions there.[15]

On 24 April, the 4th Brigade was moved to Kriekouki Pass through which the entire 2nd New Zealand Division was to withdraw. The 19th Battalion was in reserve. Again a company was detached for defensive duties, this time at Corinth Canal.[16] In the early hours of 27 April, after contact with a German convoy of 100 vehicles, the brigade withdrew again,[17] this time through Athens to Port Rafti, from where it was to be evacuated. Once in position, the 19th Battalion was held in reserve on the road, just a mile from the beach.[18] In the meantime, the company at the Corinth Canal was caught in a German attack and cut off; most became prisoners of war.[19] Over the night of 29/30 April, the brigade was evacuated with the battalion being the last unit to embark from Porto Rafti.[20] The campaign in Greece resulted in 24 men of the battalion being killed, with 20 wounded. Nearly 150 were made prisoners of war.[21]

Crete

From Greece, the 19th Battalion was shipped to the island of Crete where it arrived on 28 April with 475 personnel.[22] Designated as the reserve battalion for 4th Brigade, it was stationed just to the east of Galatas.[23][24] By mid-May it was increasingly apparent that the Germans would mount an invasion of Crete.[25] The airborne invasion by the Germans commenced in the morning of 20 May, while many of the battalion's soldiers were eating breakfast. Most of the descending paratroopers over the area were shot as they parachuted down and their equipment integrated into the defences.[26]

A field hospital in the 18th Battalion's sector was captured by paratroopers and about 500 wounded soldiers and medical staff were made prisoners of war. When the Germans left the area, they took their prisoners. Elements of 19th Battalion came across them and after a short engagement killed the guards and freed their captives although some had inadvertently received friendly fire.[27][28] By the afternoon, it, like the neighbouring 18th Battalion, was in control of its area of responsibility and had killed or captured around 150 paratroopers.[26][29] However, a prison to the southwest was in the hands of the Germans. That evening, two companies of the battalion mounted a counter-attack after a report that the paratroopers at the prison were clearing an airfield. Although supported by some light tanks, the New Zealanders became lost and the next morning were ordered to return to their defensive positions.[30]

In the afternoon of 25 May, the Germans attacked along the road from the prison, towards Galatas. After defending for two hours,[31] the 4th Brigade withdrew, with 19th Battalion temporarily being attached to 5th Brigade, positioned to the west of Chania.[32] Two day later, while manning a rearguard defensive line at Chania, it supported a counterattack mounted by Australian and New Zealand forces in an action later known as the Battle of 42nd Street, following an advance by the 141st Mountain Regiment. The Germans were routed.[33]

It was eventually evacuated from Crete.[34] Its casualties during the fighting on Crete amounted to just over 60 dead, around 70 wounded and 80 made prisoners of war.[35]

North Africa

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.[36] The offensive was intended to relieve Tobruk, then under siege, and force the Axis forces from the Cyrenaica region of Libya.[37] The battalion, now under the command of Lieutenant Colonel S. F. Hartnell,[38] The battalion suffered relatively few losses during Crusader during which the two other battalions of the 4th Infantry Brigade were effectively destroyed by the 15th Panzer Division. The battalion played a 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.[39] The following month, the battalion suffered heavy casualties during the First Battle of El Alamein and many personnel were made prisoners of war.[40]

In October 1942, the battalion, along with the rest of the 4th Infantry Brigade, was converted to an armoured unit and designated 19th Armoured Regiment. Its commander, Hartnell, was promoted to brigadier and appointed second in command of the brigade and was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel R. McGaffin. Under McGaffin, who had experience with armour,[41] the regiment spent the next year training with Sherman tanks before embarking for Italy in October 1943 to join the Eighth Army.[42]

Italy

The first engagement in Italy for the regiment was at Perano on 18 November 1943, when it supported the 19th Indian Brigade in a move up to the Sangro River.[43] A Squadron, which comprised 14 Sherman tanks, encountered elements of the 16th Panzer Division. The Indians secured their objective but the clash with the Germans resulted in four Shermans being destroyed and seven of the squadron's personnel killed.[44]

A Sherman tank of 19th Armoured Regiment supporting infantry of 6th NZ Infantry Brigade during a reconstruction of the action at Cassino, Italy, 8 April 1944

The regiment fought in actions at Orsogna and later at Cassino.[45] It finished the war in Trieste and remained there for several weeks until the large numbers of Yugoslav partisans also present in the city withdrew.[46] Not required for service in the Pacific theatre of operations, the regiment was disestablished in late 1945.[47]

During the war, the 19th Battalion and its successor, the 19th Armoured Regiment, lost nearly 230 officers and men either killed in action or who later died of their wounds, including 34 men who died as prisoners of war. Nearly 490 personnel were made prisoners of war.[35]

Honours

Four members of the battalion, including three of its commanders,[Note 2] were awarded the Distinguished Service Order while a member of the YMCA who was attached to the battalion for a portion of its service overseas was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire. Twelve officers were awarded the Military Cross while two others received the United States Bronze Star and the Greek Military Cross respectively. One soldier received the Distinguished Conduct Medal and 20 others the Military Medal. Numerous men, including the founding commander of the battalion, were mentioned in dispatches.[48]

Commanding officers

The following officers served as commanding officer of the 19th Battalion:[49]

  • Lieutenant Colonel F. S. Varnham (October 1939–April 1941; June–October 1941);[Note 3]
  • Major C. A. D'A. Blackburn (April–June 1941);
  • Lieutenant Colonel S. F. Hartnell (October 1941–April 1943);[Note 4]
  • Lieutenant Colonel R. L. McGaffin (April 1943–August 1944);
  • Lieutenant Colonel A. M. Everist (August–November 1944; March–December 1945;
  • Lieutenant Colonel H. H. Parata (November 1944–March 1945).

Notes
Footnotes
  1. The other two infantry battalions were the 18th and 20th.[2]
  2. Hartnell, Everist, and McGaffin.[48]
  3. Varnham later achieved the rank of brigadier.[3]
  4. Hartnell later achieved the rank of brigadier.[50]
Citations
  1. Sinclair 1954, p. 8.
  2. Sinclair 1954, p. 16.
  3. Sinclair 1954, p. 2.
  4. Pugsley 2014, pp. 33–34.
  5. Sinclair 1954, pp. 14–15.
  6. McGibbon 2000, pp. 263–265.
  7. McClymont 1959, p. 103.
  8. Sinclair 1954, pp. 64–65.
  9. Sinclair 1954, pp. 68–69.
  10. Sinclair 1954, pp. 70–71.
  11. Sinclair 1954, pp. 75–76.
  12. Sinclair 1954, pp. 81–82.
  13. Sinclair 1954, p. 85.
  14. Sinclair 1954, pp. 89–90.
  15. Sinclair 1954, p. 91.
  16. Sinclair 1954, p. 93.
  17. Sinclair 1954, pp. 94–95.
  18. McClymont 1959, pp. 337–338.
  19. McClymont 1959, p. 419.
  20. Sinclair 1954, pp. 100–101.
  21. McClymont 1959, p. 487.
  22. Sinclair 1954, pp. 111–112.
  23. Sinclair 1954, p. 113.
  24. Pugsley 2014, pp. 140–141.
  25. Sinclair 1954, p. 126.
  26. Sinclair 1954, pp. 130–132.
  27. Palenski 2013, p. 84.
  28. Filer 2010, pp. 66–67.
  29. Filer 2010, p. 66.
  30. Pugsley 2014, p. 145.
  31. Pugsley 2014, p. 167.
  32. Pugsley 2014, p. 169.
  33. Palenski 2013, pp. 123–125.
  34. McGibbon 2000, pp. 124–128.
  35. Sinclair 1954, p. 548.
  36. Pugsley 2014, p. 205.
  37. Pugsley 2014, p. 199.
  38. Sinclair 1954, p. 190.
  39. McGibbon 2000, pp. 389–391.
  40. Sinclair 1954, pp. 292–293.
  41. Sinclair 1954, pp. 311–312.
  42. Sinclair 1954, pp. 304–305.
  43. Pugsley 2014, p. 400.
  44. Pugsley 2014, p. 402.
  45. McGibbon 2000, p. 37.
  46. Sinclair 1954, pp. 517–520.
  47. Sinclair 1954, pp. 526–527.
  48. Sinclair 1954, p. 549.
  49. Sinclair 1954, p. 551.
  50. Sinclair 1954, p. 54.

References
  • Filer, David (2010). Crete: Death From the Skies. Auckland, New Zealand: David Bateman. ISBN 978-1-86953-782-1.
  • McClymont, W. G. (1959). To Greece. Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45. Wellington, New Zealand: War History Branch. OCLC 4373298.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • McGibbon, Ian, ed. (2000). The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Military History. Auckland, New Zealand: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-558376-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Palenski, Ron (2013). Men of Valour: New Zealand and the Battle for Crete. Auckland, New Zealand: Hodder Moa. ISBN 978-1-86971-305-8.
  • Pugsley, Christopher (2014). A Bloody Road Home: World War Two and New Zealand's Heroic Second Division. Auckland, New Zealand: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-143-57189-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Sinclair, D. W. (1954). 19 Battalion and Armoured Regiment. Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45. Wellington, New Zealand: War History Branch. OCLC 173284782.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

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