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The 19th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the New Zealand Military Forces, which served during the Second World War as part of the New Zealand 2nd Division. The 19th Battalion was formed in New Zealand in 1939 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel J. S. Varnham. After a period of training it embarked for the Middle East and then onto Greece in 1941 as part of the 2nd New Zealand Division. It participated in the Battles of Greece and later in Crete. Evacuated from Crete, it then fought in the North African Campaign and suffered heavy losses during Operation ''Crusader''. Brought back up to strength, the battalion participated in the breakout of the 2nd New Zealand Division from Minqar Qaim in June 1942, where it had been encircled by the 21st Panzer Division. The following month, the battalion suffered heavy casualties during the First Battle of El Alamein. In October 1943, the battalion was converted to an armoured unit and designated 19th Armoured Regiment. To replace men lost at El Alamein, personnel were drawn from a tank brigade being formed in New Zealand. The regiment spent a year in Egypt training with Sherman tanks, before embarking for Italy in October 1943 to join the Eighth Army. It participated in the Italian Campaign, fighting in actions at Orsogna and later at Cassino. The regiment finished the war in Trieste and remained there for several weeks until the large numbers of Yugoslav partisans also present in the city withdrew. Not required for service in the Pacific theatre of operations, the regiment was disestablished in late 1945. ==Formation and training== The 19th Battalion was formed in New Zealand in 1939 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Varnham and was the second of three infantry battalions making up the 4th Infantry Brigade. Its personnel were drawn from the lower half of the North Island of New Zealand and formed into Wellington, Wellington/West Coast, Hawke's Bay and Taranaki companies.〔Sinclair, 1954, p. 2〕 After a period of training, the battalion departed on the P & O liner ''Strathaird'' for the Middle East on 5 January 1940 as part of the 4th Infantry Brigade, 2nd New Zealand Division.〔Sinclair, 1954, p. 8〕 The battalion arrived at its base in Maadi, Egypt on 14 February,〔Sinclair, 1954, pp. 14–15〕 and was involved in training and garrison duty at Baggush for most of the next 12 months.〔McGibbon, 2000, pp. 263–265〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「19th Battalion (New Zealand)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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