[2] The 25th Battalion was the eighth such unit[Note 1] raised for the 2NZEF and was formed on 15 May 1940 at Trentham Military Camp with personnel drawn largely from Wellington, Hawke's Bay and the Taranaki region.

[5][Note 3] Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Allan Wilder, who had served with the Wellington Mounted Rifles during the First World War,[5] the battalion embarked for active service aboard the Cunard liner RMS Mauretania on 27 August 1940.

[8] The British Government anticipated an invasion of Greece by the Germans in 1941 and decided to send troops to support the Greeks, who were already engaged against the Italians in Albania.

[11] The battalion fought off a sharp attack by the German 5th Panzer Division on its positions around Thermopylae on 24 April, its only major engagement of the campaign in Greece, before it successfully disengaged later that day.

[14] The majority of the captured personnel were from the battalion's reinforcement company, which had been left in Athens when the 6th Brigade moved up to the Aliakmon Line, as well as a truckload of infantrymen that had been misdirected to Kalamata during the retreat.

Here, along with the rest of the 6th Brigade, the battalion manned defences against a possible attack from German Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers), recent events in Crete demonstrating the threat these forces could pose.

[21] Arriving a few hours after their initial contact with the enemy earlier in the morning, the 25th Battalion made its first attempt to capture Point 175, having received orders to do so from the brigade's commander, Brigadier Harold Barrowclough.

The Allied high command was concerned that the Middle East was at risk from an invasion by the Germans and the New Zealanders were part of the force tasked with blocking their likely route from the Caucasus.

Firing from the edge of a low cliff overlooking the depression, the Germans caused heavy losses amongst the 24th and 25th Battalions before passing through their positions in pursuit of the British armour.

[51] The 6th Brigade moved to the southern section of the Alamein line where it manned defensive positions during the Battle of Alam Halfa, Rommel's failed attempt to cut off the 8th Army.

[52] The battalion at this time numbered 362 personnel, which included one company which had been left back at Maadi and brought forward to rejoin the survivors of the El Mrier battle.

Minus its 4th Brigade, which had incurred significant losses at Ruweisat Ridge and had been withdrawn from the front so it could be converted to armour,[56] the 2nd New Zealand Division was to play a major role in the forthcoming attack.

In the first of its three phases, beginning on 23 October, the New Zealanders advanced behind a creeping artillery barrage which commenced at 9:40 pm and quickly attained all its objectives and began consolidating them.

Along with two British infantry brigades, the 2nd New Zealand Division resumed the fight on 2 November in Operation Supercharge, which was intended to break the frontlines in the south.

[60] After a month engaged in reorganisation and training at Sidi Azeiz,[61] the New Zealanders re-entered the campaign in mid-December at El Agheila in an attempt to trap the Panzer Army Africa.

The move was unopposed for five days until the evening of 15 December, when a reconnaissance element that included the brigade's commander, Brigadier William Gentry, came under fire from a ridge.

[64] Shortly after reaching the city, Bonifant was given command of the New Zealand Divisional Cavalry with Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Morten taking over the 25th Battalion.

[77] Having been based in Maadi Camp since early June,[78] the battalion left Egypt on 6 October as part of the division's shift to Italy and reached Taranto three days later.

Although briefly disturbed during the crossing by a German machinegun, there were no casualties, and the battalion pushed forward and seized its objective, a range of hills over 900 metres (980 yd) beyond the river.

[83] The 25th Battalion made the initial attack on Orsogna on the evening of 2 December, which was launched without the use of supporting armour as Brigadier Graham Parkinson, commander of the 6th Brigade, did not anticipate any difficulty.

The leading platoons penetrated into the town square but soon robust defence, supported by German tanks of the 26th Panzer Division, forced them back.

[92] An initial attack on Cassino, which involved the 4th Indian Division, the 28th Maori Battalion and New Zealand engineers, was mounted on 15 February but failed due to a lack of air and armoured support.

[96] In the interim, command of the 25th Battalion passed to Lieutenant Colonel John McDuff, who replaced Major Norman, who in turn had taken over from Morten who, earlier in the month, had once again fallen ill and been evacuated.

Casualties amongst the battalion amounted to 220 personnel killed or wounded in action[106] and it was left to II Polish Corps to capture Cassino in mid-May.

[109] A full-scale attack was mounted early in the morning of 15 July under the cover of an artillery barrage and the battalion's companies began reaching their objectives within two hours.

The 24th Battalion was similarly expanded, and these two battle groups alternated as the advance guard of 6th Brigade, which in turn led the division in a series of river crossings throughout September up to and beyond Rimini.

[121] Despite suffering casualties due to being accidentally bombed by Allied bombers, the battalion continued to lead the advance of the 6th Brigade to the Santerno, which it crossed on 11 April.

Since beginning its attack across the Senio, the battalion had advanced 23 kilometres (14 mi), taken at least 68 prisoners-of-war and inflicted numerous casualties on the enemy for the loss of 14 men killed in action.

[129] Along with other elements of the 2nd New Zealand Division, the battalion remained in and around Trieste for several weeks to counter the presence of Yugoslav partisans, who had laid claim to the city.

In early August, the battalion began demobilisation with long serving men leaving for New Zealand via Bari while the remaining personnel withdrew to wintering positions near Florence.