In the Western Desert Campaign, the division played a prominent role in the defeat of German and Italian forces in the Second Battle of El Alamein and the British Eighth Army's advance to Tunisia.

In early 1944, the division formed the nucleus of the New Zealand Corps, fighting two battles attempting unsuccessfully to penetrate the Gustav Line at Monte Cassino.

[3] In March 1941, the division was deployed to Greece to assist British and Australian forces in defending the country from an expected German invasion.

By the end of the month, German soldiers had once again overwhelmed British and Commonwealth forces, and it was decided to evacuate the division from the island, again without its heavy weapons.

The New Zealand troops crossed the Libyan frontier into Cyrenaica, and linked up with the British 70th Infantry Division of the Tobruk Garrison on 26 November.

During the First Battle of El Alamein, in July 1942, the division put in a night attack against the Afrika Korps, commanded by Erwin Rommel.

However, it was stopped in the minefield lanes by the 15th Panzer and 90th Light Divisions; the following morning, the armour continued to be attacked, suffering heavy losses.

For much of this time, Lieutenant General Bernard Montgomery, the Eighth Army commander since August 1942, was obliged to maintain a relatively small forward force because of the difficulties caused by a very extended supply line and the New Zealand Division was therefore held in reserve at Bardia.

The division then formed the left flank of the advancing Eighth Army and on 16 December had an opportunity to trap the retreating Axis forces.

[15] However, skilful delaying tactics allowed the Axis forces to withdraw in good order and when leading elements of Eighth Army entered Tripoli in the early morning of 23 January its defenders had left.

Fennell asserts that the aftermath of the 'mutiny' meant that "the New Zealand soldier, to all intents and purposes, was able to negotiate the terms of his service in the second half of the war.

By the end of the year the deteriorating winter weather made movement of even tracked vehicles impossible except on metaled roads and severely impeded vital close air support operations.

This, together with the failure to capture Orsogna led the Allies to call off the Adriatic coast offensive until spring brought better conditions in the skies and under foot.

[20] The 15th Army Group commander General Sir Harold Alexander and Fifth Army commander Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark looked around for solutions to penetrate the defences, as their careers and reputations were irrevocably linked with success on this front, particularly due to Winston Churchill's insistence at this time, that Italy was the key to the ultimate success in the war.

On 8 February, Clark conceded to Alexander that U.S. II Corps would not succeed with any further attacks and he "allowed" the British (and Dominions) to attempt to strike the final blow against the Axis line at Cassino.

Tuker also expressed his concern over Freyberg's apparent obsession with reducing the monastery on Monte Cassino, arguing that (supported by General Juin, commanding the French Expeditionary Corps) they were attempting to breach the strongest and most fortified point of the Gustav Line.

[29] As part of his plan, and encouraged by the complaints from Tucker, Freyberg insisted to Clark that the monastery should be flattened by bombing in the preparatory stage of the attack.

General Alexander, although expressing the opinion that it would be regrettable to destroy the Benedictine Order monastery-built around AD 529—supported Freyberg's insistence that reducing the monastery be considered a military necessity.

This third assault on Cassino was intended to not only penetrate the Gustav Line, but to draw away the German forces to further alleviate the pressure on the VI Corps at Anzio.

[39] The advance into Cassino town by the 6th NZ Brigade went wrong from the start as the 19th Armoured tanks were unable to pass through the badly damaged roads, covered in rubble and bomb craters.

[44] By 20 March a company of Gurkhas overran Point 435 on Hangman's Hill, 500 yards from the Abbey, but were again driven back by German fire from unassailable positions.

The NZ Division re-occupied the railway station and the botanical gardens in the town and the process of attack and counterattack continued until 23 March when Alexander decided to call off the offensive.

When in May 1944 the Allies launched their final and successful offensive on the Cassino front, X Corps was employed in a holding role making diversionary feints and anchoring the right flank of the Eighth Army attack.

In fact they got across a large stretch of country which the going map said was impassable to tanks ...[49] As the main attack advanced, X Corps with the New Zealand Division moved forward to maintain protection of Eighth Army's right flank.

After the fall of Rome in early June X Corps formed a pursuit force comprising 2nd New Zealand and 8th and 10th Indian Infantry Divisions.

[50] In mid July, the division joined British XIII Corps, under Lieutenant-General Sidney C. Kirkman, at the Trasimene Line as reinforcements ahead of a set piece offensive planned to carry an advance to Arezzo.

The New Zealand Division's capture of the eastern crests of the Pian dei Cerri hills at the start of August was the turning point of the battle for Florence.

This opinion had earlier been expressed by Rommel in his report to the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht on 21 July 1942 (at the end of the First Battle of El Alamein) in which he highly rated the New Zealand Division.

[61] Captain Charles Upham, VC and Bar, of the New Zealand Division, was the only person to be awarded the Victoria Cross twice during the Second World War.

Lance Sergeant Haane Manahi of the Māori Battalion was posthumously honoured in 2007 by representatives of the Queen after it was decided that his Distinguished Conduct Medal, awarded for actions at Takrouna, was not to be upgraded to a Victoria Cross, despite recommendations from senior officers, including Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks.