N Force

This article is about the New Zealand Army unit. For the UK band, see N Force (band).

N Force was a small New Zealand Army unit which garrisoned Norfolk Island between October 1942 and February 1944. N Force was formed by detaching units from the 3rd New Zealand Division. As Norfolk Island never came under attack N Force did not see action.

At its peak in October 1942, N Force consisted of 1,488 New Zealanders under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel J. W. Barry. At this time N-Force consisted of:

• 36th Battalion (Infantry)
• 152nd Heavy Battery (four 155mm guns)
• Independent Field Artillery Troop (four 25 pounder guns)
• 215th Composite Anti-Aircraft Battery (four 3.7-inch anti-aircraft and eight 40-millimetre guns)
• Engineer, Army Service Corps and Ordnance detachments

The 36th Battalion left Norfolk Island to rejoin the 3rd New Zealand Division on New Caledonia at the end of March 1943. The Battalion was replaced by the 2nd Battalion, Wellington-West Coast Regiment.

References

• Lieutenant Colonel Oliver A. Gillespie, 1952. The Pacific War History Branch, Department Of Internal Affairs, Wellington, New Zealand. (Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45 series)

• Royal New Zealand Artillery Old Comrades' Association NZ Artillery of World War 2 in the Pacific