4th Infantry Brigade ( New Zealand ) The 4th Infantry Brigade was a formation of the New Zealand Military Forces , active in both the First and the Second World War . It was initially raised in England in 1917 for service with the New Zealand Division on the Western Front during the First World War . It only fought in one major engagement , the Battle of Broodseinde , although it was in reserve for two other significant battles , the Battle of Messines and the First Battle of Passchendaele . The brigade was disbanded in early 1918 due to a reorganisation of the New Zealand Division . The brigade was resurrected for service in the Second World War as part of the 2nd New Zealand Division . It saw service during the Battle of Greece , the Battle of Crete and the North African Campaign before being converted into the 4th Armoured Brigade . Formation . The 4th Infantry Brigade was formed in response to a request made by the British War Office in February 1917 for a second New Zealand division , or failing that , additional infantry brigades . This request was not particularly well received by sections of the New Zealand government , which already felt its contributions to the war effort were not being fully recognised by the British . Despite this , New Zealand ' s prime minister , William Massey , supported the request . Consequently , a decision was made to form an additional brigade for service with the New Zealand Division from troops already in England . However , Massey did place a caveat on the brigade in that no additional reinforcements would be sent to maintain it , and if required , it could be used to supply replacements for the New Zealand Division . Lieutenant General Sir Alexander Godley , the commander of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force ( NZEF ) , had put in place an excellent support structure to ensure the manpower needs of the NZEF was well supplied . By this stage of the war , approximately 2 , 200 men were arriving at the NZEF ' s bases in England every month from New Zealand . This , together with the fact that the New Zealand Division had incurred relatively few losses since the Battle of the Somme the previous year , meant that there was a reserve of around 10 , 000 men available with which to draw upon for the new brigade without adversely affecting the ability to replace existing troops in the field , in the short - term at least . Thus , the 4th Infantry Brigade was officially formed on 15 March 1917 at Codford , the command depot of the NZEF . Its core units were four infantry battalions specifically formed for the brigade , these being the third battalions of the Auckland , Wellington , Canterbury and Otago regiments ( the first and second battalions of each regiment were serving with the 1st Infantry Brigade and 2nd Infantry Brigade s respectively ) . Its men were drawn from fresh replacements newly arrived in England , men recovered from wounds and already at Codford and finally , experienced men specifically sent from France . Godley appointed newly promoted Brigadier General Herbert Ernest Hart as the commander of the brigade . Hart was an experienced soldier , having served at both Gallipoli and the Western Front as a battalion commander , and immediately implemented a rigorous training programme for his troops . However , he had to curtail the training programme when he received orders to embark for France , which the brigade duly did on 29 May 1917 . Order of Battle . The 4th Infantry Brigade was made up of the following units : Operations . Initially the brigade came under the command of II Anzac Corps , to which the New Zealand Division was attached , and was based at Bailleul . The bulk of the brigade was held in reserve for the Battle of Messines , but some specialist troops supported the Allied attack on the Messines Ridge . The infantry also provided road working parties . The brigade then came under the direct tactical command of the New Zealand Division on 10 June . It was initially tasked with holding a quiet section of the frontlines near Messines , and conducted limited offensive actions in order to tie up German manpower in the area . It remained in the sector until late August 1917 , before it was relieved and withdrawn , along with the 1st and 2nd Infantry Brigades , to a training area . This allowed Hart to continue training of his relatively new brigade , although he was satisfied with its performance to date . Battle of Broodseinde . In late September , II Anzac Corps was detailed for the ongoing Battle of Passchendaele , also known as the Third Battle of Ypres . The New Zealand Division was to launch an attack on Gravenstafel Spur , running off the Passchendaele Ridge , as part of what would become known as the Battle of Broodseinde . The attack was part of an overall strategy to capture the ridges running in front of Passchendaele , prior to an attack on the village itself . The division ' s section of the frontline was approximately 2 , 000 metres , with the 4th Brigade moving into the southern portion of the line on 2 October . On its right was the Australian 3rd Division , while on its left flank was the 1st Brigade . The 48th Division ( of XVIII Corps ) was to the left of the 1st Brigade . Together with the 1st Infantry Brigade , the 4th Brigade was tasked with two objectives , the ' Red Line ' and the ' Blue Line ' . The line of advance for the 4th Brigade included the Abraham Heights . Two battalions from each brigade ( the Auckland and Otago battalions in the case of the 4th Brigade ) were to advance to and secure the ' Red Line ' , running along the crest of the ridge . The other two battalions ( the Canterbury and Wellington battalions ) of the respective brigades would then advance through the ' Red Line ' to take the ' Blue Line ' , at the bottom of the Belluvue Spur . On 4 October , preceded by an artillery barrage beginning at 06 : 00 , the division began its offensive with the infantry of 4 Brigade advancing behind a creeping barrage . This barrage caught massed German troops , preparing for their own attack , out in the open . The German infantry , decimated by the artillery fire , were swiftly dealt with by the advancing New Zealanders . Despite the presence of pillboxes , the ' Red Line ' objective was reached on schedule , with some limited mopping up operations conducted forward of the line by parties of the Auckland and Otago battalions . Having moved up to the ' Red Line ' behind the attacking forces , at 08 : 10 , the Canterbury and Wellington battalions began moving forward to the ' Blue Line ' . Despite some resistance from machine gun nests and pockets of infantry sheltering in shell holes , the ' Blue Line ' objective was reached by 4 Brigade at 09 : 30 . The infantry of 1st Brigade reached the line at about the same time . Rain began to fall later that afternoon , and quickly began turning the ground boggy . Despite this , for the next two days , under the protection of heavy artillery support , both brigades consolidated their positions and established trench lines . The Germans mounted some small scale counterattacks but these were easily dealt with . From 5 October , the rain began to set in , making movement of men and equipment to the front line difficult . On 6 October , both brigades were relieved by the 49th Division . The attack was a success with the brigades taking all their objectives on schedule . The 4th Brigade captured 700 prisoners of war , for the loss of 130 men killed , and over 600 wounded ( 192 were killed in 1st Brigade , with 700 wounded ) . From the jump off line , the division had made gains of around 1 , 000 metres . Both Godley and Major General Russell , the commander of the New Zealand Division , specifically acknowledged the contributions of the 4th Brigade towards the success of the attack . In the line . The 4th Brigade was held in reserve for the following Battle of Passchendaele , which involved the New Zealand Division ' s 2nd and 3rd Brigades attacking Belluvue Spur , while the Australian 3rd Division attempted to take Passchendaele itself . The attack , which commenced on 12 October , proved to be a costly failure with the New Zealand Division suffering heavy losses with over 600 killed and 2000 odd wounded . The 4th Brigade moved up to the line to relieve the 2nd and 3rd Brigades , and would remain there until the division was relieved and withdrawn to a training area in late October . In November , the brigade returned to the Ypres sector to man the lines vacated by the 110th Brigade of 21st Division along the Broodseinde Ridge , which included Polygon Wood . Regular patrols were run into No - Man ' s Land and minor skirmishes occurred up and down the brigade ' s positions . It was eventually relieved in the line by 1st Brigade in early January 1918 . Disbandment . Political considerations were coming bear on the existence of 4th Brigade . In New Zealand , there was still lingering resentment at the manpower demands being placed upon the country , compared to those made on Australia and Canada . Furthermore , while New Zealand was considering conscription of married men ( single men already being conscripted ) , Australia ' s reliance on volunteers only rankled , particularly as the British reduced their manpower demands on Australia without informing the New Zealand government . Consequently , the New Zealand government wanted a reduction in reinforcements being sent to the Western Front , yet the New Zealand Division , following the losses during the Battle of Passchendaele , also needed to restore its complement of men . Thus , an existing brigade needed to be broken up to supply the necessary reinforcements . New Zealand ' s prime minister , Massey , had previously stipulated the 4th Brigade would supply any necessary reinforcements to the division but Major General Russell favoured disbandment of the 3rd Brigade over the 4th Brigade . The 3rd had been shattered by the attack on Belluvue Spur the previous October , while Russell considered the 4th to be the best brigade in his division . However , the commandant of the New Zealand Military Forces , Major General Sir Alfred Robin , who was among those who had never supported the formation of the additional brigade , wanted 4th Brigade broken up instead . Accordingly , Hart was informed in January 1918 that the 4th Brigade was to be disbanded , with the 3rd Otago and Canterbury battalions going to 2nd Brigade ( with Hart taking over as commander of the brigade ) . Many of the remaining troops formed the basis of the newly formed New Zealand Entrenching Group , which comprised three battalions , one for each of the remaining brigades of the New Zealand Division . The group effectively served as a reinforcement pool for the division . The 4th Brigade was officially disbanded on 7 February 1918 . World War II . The brigade was reraised for World War II service from 1939 , and was subordinated to the 2nd Division . It was reformed into the 4th Armoured Brigade in October 1942 .