3rd Division ( New Zealand ) The 3rd New Zealand Division was a division of the New Zealand Military Forces . Formed in 1942 , it saw action against the Japan ese in the Pacific Ocean Areas during the Second World War . The division saw action in the Solomon Islands campaign during 1943 – 44 , but was later disbanded in October 1944 . The majority of its manpower was returned to civilian employment , although around 4 , 000 men were sent to Italy to reinforce the 2nd Division . History . Formation . The 3rd New Zealand Division began forming from New Zealand Military Forces units in Fiji in May 1942 and moved to New Zealand in the middle of the year . Major - General Harold Barrowclough was appointed to command the division on 12 August . By October the division comprised 8th Brigade and 14th Brigade of three battalions each , artillery comprising 33 Heavy Coast Regiment , 28 HAA Regiment , 29 Light Anti - Aircraft Regiment , and anti - tank batteries , two field companies plus a field park of engineers , medical , Army Service Corps , and support units . In October 1942 , 34 Battalion and 36 Battalion were detached from the Division to garrison Tonga and Norfolk Island respectively . 36 Battalion was accompanied by detachments from the division ' s engineer , artillery and service units and was designated N Force . After completing its initial training in New Zealand the 3rd NZ Division moved to New Caledonia for garrison duty and further training in December 1942 and January 1943 . Initially it only consisted of three brigade s with only two battalion s each ( 15 Brigade was reallocated units from the other two brigades ) , however , in March 1943 the New Zealand government approved the expansion of the division to 17 , 637 men all ranks and decided that the two battalions on Norfolk Island and Tonga would be assigned to the division . Almost immediately , however , manpower was an issue and during the early months of 1943 it became clear that the division would not be raised to full strength . Indeed , for a while it seemed that the division might be disbanded before it saw active service , however , its commander , Barrowclough urged the government to allow the division to see active service before any decision was made . This request was accepted , however , the government announced that the division ' s third brigade — 15 Brigade — would be disbanded along with its heavy artillery and anti - aircraft regiments ( 33 Heavy Coast Regiment and 28 Heavy Anti - Aircraft Regiment , Royal New Zealand Artillery ) . First Battalion , Ruahine Regiment , and First Battalion , NZ Scots , were disbanded . Due to Barrowclough ' s requests , the division retained all three of its engineer companies , however . Campaign in the Solomon Islands . The 3rd NZ Division moved to Guadalcanal in August 1943 . From this base , as part of the U . S . I Marine Amphibious Corps ( I MAC ) , the division provided the ground component for three campaigns against small island groups in the Northern Solomons ( in all operations the United States Navy provided the naval forces while squadrons from the Royal New Zealand Air Force formed only a small part of the US dominated air forces ) . While the islands were only lightly held by the Japanese and New Zealand casualties were relatively light , the Kiwi ground troops had to overcome challenging terrain and climatic conditions in these operations . Vella Lavella . 3rd NZ Division ' s operations on Vella Lavella ran from 21 September to 9 October 1943 . The Americans had landed on the island in August , establishing a beachhead in the south . The division ' s 14th Brigade Group , under Brigadier Leslie Potter , landed at the US base a month later as a follow - on force . Upon arrival , they were given the task of clearing the remaining Japanese forces from the north of the island so that it could be used to establish a radar station and a motor torpedo boat base . The New Zealanders were outnumbered by the defenders , nevertheless , they had been well trained and this training ultimately led to their success . 35 and 37 Battalions were dispatched along with supporting elements on two axes of advance : one up the east coast , the other up the west . The tactic proved successful and by early October the Japanese defenders were caught in a small pocket by the two New Zealand forces , having killed between 200 to 300 Japanese . Potter , however , failed to capitalise on the situation and due to overcaution the remaining 589 Japanese were able to escape the island on the night of 6 / 7 October aboard ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy . Total New Zealand casualties in this operation were 32 killed and 32 wounded . The main units involved were : Treasury Islands . 3rd NZ Division ' s operations in the Treasury Islands ran from 25 October to 26 November 1943 . The 8th Brigade Group , under the command of Brigadier Robert Row , landed on the islands on 27 October in New Zealand ' s first opposed amphibious operation since Gallipoli in 1915 . The initial landing took place on Mono Island , the largest in the group , and after the landing the New Zealanders encountered only scattered opposition from the Japanese defenders , who withdrew to the northern coast of the island . On the night of 1 / 2 November the Japanese attempted a counterattack , launching a determined attack on the Allied line at Soanotalu . The attack was unsuccessful , however , as reinforcements had just arrived and the Japanese assault was beaten back . The last organised Japanese units were defeated on the night of 2 / 3 November . New Zealand casualties were 40 killed and 145 wounded . The main units involved were : Green Islands . 3rd NZ Division ' s operations in the Green Islands ran from 15 February to 27 February 1944 . Like the operation in the Treasury Islands , the heavily reinforced 14th Brigade made an opposed landing on Nissan Island against light Japanese resistance on 15 February . The small Japanese garrison resisted the invasion strongly but was overwhelmed by the much larger New Zealand force , with organised resistance coming to an end on 23 February . New Zealand casualties were 10 killed and 21 wounded . The main units involved were : Disbandment . In early 1944 the New Zealand Government faced a manpower crisis caused by the demands of maintaining two divisions overseas while simultaneously maintaining agricultural and industrial production to meet the needs of the Allied countries . In order to cope with this crisis the NZ Government saw no option other than to disband one the country ' s two infantry divisions . The decision to disband the 3rd NZ Division was made after consulting with the British and United States governments , who were of the view that 2nd NZ Division ' s contribution to the campaign in Italy was of greater importance than 3rd NZ Division ' s contribution in the Pacific . 3rd NZ Division was withdrawn to New Caledonia in June 1944 and returned to New Zealand in August . The division was rapidly downsized and was formally disbanded on 20 October 1944 . About 4 , 000 veterans of 3rd NZ Division were dispatched to Italy to reinforce 2nd NZ Division with the remaining men of the division returning to civilian employment . Order of battle . In October 1942 the main elements of the 3rd NZ Division were : This organisation was altered for the campaign in the Solomon Islands . Most notably , an armoured regiment was added to the division in December 1942 ( this unit was reduced to a squadron in June 1943 ) and the heavy coast artillery regiment was replaced by a field artillery regiment . References . Histories . Thirteen unofficial Third Division histories of New Zealand in the Pacific were produced by the Third Division Histories Committee and published by A . H . & A . W . Reed , Wellington . The number is on the first page before title page ( in a numbering error , there were two of No 4 and no No 6 ) . They are all online at the New Zealand Electronic Texts website .