[2] After consultation with the British government, it was decided that New Zealand's primary contribution to the war effort would be in the form of an infantry division.

[5] The brigade left for the Middle East in May 1940[6] but while en route to Aden, the news of the invasion of Holland and Belgium prompted the diversion of the troop convoy to England by way of Cape Town.

[12] It arrived at the 2NZEF camp at Helwan in Egypt in early March 1941,[13] completing the full strength of the 2nd New Zealand Division.

Sent to Greece alongside the Australian 6th Division and a British armoured brigade in order to support the Greeks in their defence against an expected invasion by the Germans, the New Zealanders manned the Aliakmon Line,[15] with the 5th Brigade remaining in reserve in Athens until it moved to Olympus Pass, its designated defensive position,[16] on 29 March 1941.

[20] Its first contact with the Germans was in the evening of 12 April, when the artillery covering the brigade shelled a party trying the bridge the Aliakmon River.

[23] Meanwhile the rest of the brigade was also engaged with the German forces, holding off several tanks supported by infantry and enduring mortar and artillery fire until being ordered by Freyberg to withdraw to the Thermopylae Line on 16 April.

[25] At Pinios Gorge, 21st Battalion had linked up with Australian forces and carried out a delaying action to cover the withdrawal of the rest of the 2nd New Zealand Division as well as the Australian 6th Division; however, the commander, Lieutenant Colonel Neil Macky misjudged the deployment of his defences and did not adequately cover the road through the gorge.

[28] The 5th Brigade, the first of the New Zealand elements to arrive, disembarked on Crete on 25 April 1941 and Hargest was instructed to take over the defences to the west of the main town, Chania.

22nd Battalion was subjected to a heavy Luftwaffe raid which wounded the Commander Lieutenant Colonel Lesie Andrew, a veteran of the World War I, said it was worse than the artillery bombardments of Passcendale and the Somme, then at 7:00 am one company of glider troops from I/LLSR landed on the southern slope of Hill 107 and was shot to pieces, while the other company glided in along the Tavronitis river bed and captured the bridge and attacked the Western perimeter of Maleme Airfield held by company D and C of 22nd Battalion, Andrew held on until nightfall when the signal wires were cut to his command bunker on Hill 107, Andrew thought this was a signal that Company C and D were overrun, so withdrew at 9:00 pm after sending out runners with orders to retreat, the other 2 companies withdrew in the morning at 4:50 am after they found themselves all along at Maleme airfield then the next morning the surprised Fallshrimjager occupied Maleme airfield and soon after reinforcements of Alpinejagers were flown in, which turned the tide in the Axis favour.