 On 26 January 1940 the battalion came together for the first time, marking its official raising at the Palmerston North Show Grounds. Upon formation it was decided that the battalion would be organised upon tribal lines. The unit consisted of a headquarters company and four rifle companies, designated 'A' through 'D': 'A' Company was recruited from North Auckland; 'B' Company from Rotorua, the Bay of Plenty and Thames – Coromandel; 'C' Company from the East Coast from Gisborne to East Cape and 'D' Company from Waikato, Maniapoto, Hawkes Bay, Wellington and the South Island, as well as some Pacific Islands and the Chatham and Stewart Islands.
