At the beginning of the First World War, each infantry battalion and mounted rifles regiment contained a single section equipped with two Maxim machine guns.

The infantry machine gun sections were detached from their battalions in March 1916 and formed into larger independent companies.

Following the Battle of the Somme in 1916, the decision was made to form a divisional level machine gun company, which joined the New Zealand Division in February 1917.

[4] Immediately following the end of the war the machine gun battalion took up occupation duties with the rest of the New Zealand Division in Cologne and was disbanded in early 1919.

In June 1918 the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade was disbanded and the New Zealand cameliers of the 15th and 16th companies were converted into the 2nd Machine Gun Squadron.