Anticipating the entry of the Japanese Empire into the Second World War, the New Zealand Military Forces raised the 8th Infantry Brigade Group for garrison duty in Fiji.

[2] The brigade group, commanded by Brigadier William Cunningham, arrived in Fiji in November 1940 and was put to work on fortifying strategic areas of the colony.

[5] On arrival in Fiji in January 1942, the battalion was tasked with the defence of Nadi Bay and the Royal New Zealand Air Force airbase positioned there.

[5] The battalion was now under the command of Lieutenant Colonel G. H. Tomline as Murphy had been assigned to the headquarters of the newly formed 3rd New Zealand Division, to which 14th Brigade had been made subordinate.

[6] It commenced the preparation of defences, including digging weapon pits, building tank traps[7] and laying 16,000 metres (17,000 yd) of barbed wire.

[9][10] The battalion spent the next several months in training at locations about the central North Island before embarking for New Caledonia in December[11] as part of the New Zealand 3rd Division,[12] which was working up for operations in the tropics.

[21] Over the following week a series of platoon and company sized actions took place amid isolated tracks in the jungle, as a multitude of snipers and machine gun posts were dealt as patrols probed further inland of Timbala Bay.

[22] Several days later, battalion personnel were subject to a friendly fire incident when a Corsair strafed a barge carrying some soldiers on a supply run.

[27] It conducted numerous advances inland and around the island, largely a coral reef, but was mostly unopposed apart from one patrol which contacted a Japanese force of 60 men.

[35] The battalion's regimental quartermaster, Warrant Officer II Robert Buckland, was appointed to the Order of the British Empire for his service during the war.

[35] For its service in the war, the 35th Battalion received four battle honours: "Solomons", "Vella Lavella", "Green Islands", and "South Pacific 1942–44".