The Twentyfourth New Zealand Infantry Battalion - a Pictorial History

The Twentyfourth New Zealand Infantry Battalion A Pictorial History. BY F L Phillips and H R Gilmour.

Publisher: Richards Publishing, Auckland, 1980

FIRST EDITION. EXTREMELY SCARCE.

Very good hardback with jacket. Slight fading and bumping to edges of cloth boards. Large inscription to ffep. Two large creases across corner of page 293, minor foxing and light creasing. The rest of the pages are very good. Jacket has some fading and creasing, small scratch and tiny hole to back cover.

383 pages with photos, maps and illustrations.

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 Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force (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.

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