New Zealand Infantry Battalion, February 1945
Sources
Compiled from the War Establishment for an Infantry Battalion, 2NZEF, ref No.28/3, effective from 4th February 1945.
Comments
Unlike previous establishments issued by 2NZEF, which were almost identical to their British equivalents, this final variant of the Infantry Battalion was distinctly New Zealand. The number of men assigned to the various weapons platoons in Headquarters Company was drastically reduced, allowing an increase in the strength of the Rifle Companies.
The date of this organisation coincided with preparations by the Allies for the final push against their German adversaries in Italy. 2nd New Zealand Division underwent a number of radical changes at the beginning of 1945, key among which was the creation of an extra Infantry Brigade. This was only possible by converting the Divisional Cavalry Regiment, the Divisional Machine Gun Battalion and the Motor Battalion of the Armoured Brigade to Infantry. This may well account for the inclusion of an MMG Platoon within the 1945 Infantry Battalion.
As an aside, on the off chance that anyone reading this page may have the preceding War Establishment table for a 2NZEF Infantry Battalion, ref No.28/2, effective from 9th September 1944, please drop me an email, as I'd very much like to get hold of a copy!
Weapons
One thing I have always tried to do in the Example TOE pages is show the personal weapon assigned to each individual. The NZ establishment gives the total of pistols, rifles and Thompson submachine guns (termed machine carbines in the original document) allocated to each subunit of the Battalion. What it does not do however is give any idea of how these weapons were to be carried within the subunit.
Thanks to my peculiar choice of hobby, I've found myself more than once trying to understand the rational behind individual weapons issue for units that existed over sixty years ago. This time, I must admit defeat. I cannot find any underpinning logic to the number of pistols, submachine guns and rifles given to each subunit in the New Zealand tables. I have been able to make some reasonable estimates for the Rifle Company and elements of Headquarters Company, but not the Battalion as a whole. My estimates are shown in italics where appropriate with the official allocation shown also.
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