8th Brigade ( New Zealand ) The 8th Brigade was a formation of the New Zealand Military Forces , which served during the Second World War as part of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force . Eventually forming part of the 3rd Division , the brigade served in the Pacific Ocean theatre of the war . Raised in late 1940 , initially the brigade was employed on garrison duties on Fiji before returning to New Zealand in mid - 1942 . In December 1942 , it was sent to New Caledonia where they remained until early September 1943 , when they moved to Guadalcanal to prepare for operations in the Solomon Islands . The brigade ' s only combat operation of the war came in October – November 1943 , when it captured the Treasury Islands . It was disbanded in late 1944 due to manpower shortages in the New Zealand economy . History . Established on 20 September 1940 , the brigade was raised as a garrison force for the island of Fiji , after New Zealand assumed responsibility for the defence of the island from the United Kingdom . Deploying in October 1940 , it was Initially known as " Force B " or the " 8th Brigade Group " , and consisted of about 3 , 000 personnel organised into two infantry battalion s – the 29th and 30th Battalion s – as well as a number of support units . Later , these battalions were joined by the 34th Battalion . Following Japan ' s entry into the war after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the invasion of Malaya in December 1941 , the brigade headquarters was used to raise a divisional headquarters and a new 8th Brigade headquarters was raised in Trentham . On 6 January 1942 , under the command of Brigadier L . G Goss , it was established at Samambula , in Fiji . At this time , the brigade ' s composition was altered . The 30th Battalion was transferred to the newly raised 14th Brigade , and the 36th Battalion arrived to join the 29th and 34th Battalions . Elements of the Fiji Defence Force were also attached , as were artillery , engineer and medical support units . In February , command of the brigade passed to Brigadier Robert Row , although Brigadier F . L Hunt took temporary command for a brief period of time in Row ' s absence in May 1942 . The brigade remained on Fiji to defend it against a possible Japanese invasion until August 1942 , when they returned to New Zealand and undertook home defence duties as part of the 3rd Division . In October 1942 , the 34th Battalion was detached from the brigade to garrison Tonga , while 36th Battalion was sent to Norfolk Island as part of N Force ; they were replaced by two Territorial Force battalions : the 1st Battalion , New Zealand Scottish Regiment and the 1st Battalion , Ruahine Regiment . In December 1942 , the brigade moved to New Caledonia with the rest of the 3rd Division . In March 1943 , the 36th Battalion rejoined the brigade and it reverted to a three battalion formation , consisting of the 29th , 34th and 36th Battalions . In May , these battalions were converted to ' jungle establishments ' , which saw the reorganisation of most of their heavy weapons into a brigade machine - gun company and the conversion of the support companies into rifle companies . As a result of experience gained through various training exercises conducted during this time , in early August , the decision was made to attach engineer , anti - tank and field artillery support at operational level to each battalion , as they were formed into " battalion combat teams " . The 8th Brigade remained on New Caledonia until early September when they moved to Guadalcanal as the 3rd Division was assigned a combat role in the Solomon Islands campaign . As a part of this campaign , the 8th Brigade – with supporting Royal New Zealand Air Force fighter aircraft as well as engineers and anti - tank , anti - aircraft and field artillery units – took part in the capturing the Treasury Islands in October – November 1943 . The Treasuries were a small group of islands that were south of the larger island of Bougainville and were seen by the Allies as a stepping - stone towards landing forces there . For the operation , the brigade was detached from the New Zealand 3rd Division and placed under the operational command of the US 1st Marine Amphibious Corps . On 27 October , the brigade conducted two amphibious landings on Mono and Stirling Island s . Stirling Island was found to be completely undefended and , as a result , the main landing focused on Mono , where the main part of the estimated 200 - man Japanese garrison was believed to be located . Coming ashore around the village of Falamai , the lead battalions – the 29th and 36th – experienced only limited opposition from the islands ' defenders as they moved inland through thick scrub . Due to thorough planning by the brigade commander , Row , and effective resourcing , this was quickly overcome and after a determined Japanese counterattack on the 34th Battalion ' s positions was turned back on the night of 1 / 2 November , organised Japanese resistance came to an end by 2 / 3 November . By 12 November , the island was effectively cleared , however , patrols and mopping up actions continued after this . By the end of November the New Zealanders had lost 40 men killed and another 145 wounded , while Japanese losses were 223 killed and eight captured as prisoners of war . After this the brigade garrisoned the islands against a possible Japanese counterattack from the Shortland Islands . On 16 November , the 8th Brigade returned to the operational command of the New Zealand 3rd Division . In December 1943 , Row , who had reached retirement age , was repatriated back to New Zealand and subsequently placed on the retired list . He was replaced as brigade commander by Brigadier L . G Goss , who had previously served as brigade commander before Row . In early 1944 , manpower shortages in the New Zealand economy resulted in the decision to disband the units of the 3rd Division . As a result the 8th Brigade ' s battalions were slowly reduced as drafts were returned to New Zealand for demobilisation . In early March plans were made for the brigade to undertake a landing at Kavieng , however , this was cancelled . Finally , in May 1944 the brigade was withdrawn back to New Caledonia , where the 3rd Division was being concentrated while its future was being decided . On 20 October 1944 , the 3rd Division , along with its various subunits , was disbanded .