5th Division (New Zealand)


The 5th Division, New Zealand Military Forces, was raised in the Southern Military District during the Second World War. It consisted of the 3rd and 10th Brigades and the 11th Brigade Group. It was disbanded after the danger of invasion from Japan receded. It appears to have been raised on 1 November 1941, and disbanded on 1 April 1944.
Infantry units included the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Canterbury Regiment, the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the Nelson, Marlborough & West Coast Regiment, the 2nd Battalion New Zealand Scots, the 1st Battalion Southland Regiment, and the 3rd Battalion, Nelson Marlborough West Coast Regiment.
In mid-1942, the division comprised:
No. 22 Squadron RNZAF flew in support of the division in the army cooperation role.