The 34th Battalion was initially used for garrison duties on Fiji and New Caledonia before being committed to the fighting in the Solomon Islands, briefly seeing combat against the Japanese in the Treasury Islands in late 1943. Returned to New Zealand in mid-1944 and was disbanded later that year as part of a partial demobilisation of New Zealand forces. Many of its personnel returned to civilian employment while others were sent to Italy as reinforcements for the New Zealand 2nd Division. The battalion was awarded three battle honours for its service during the war.