Submitted by admin on o Āpereira 23, 2009 - 00:02
WAR AGAINST GERMANY
The Outbreak of War
New Zealand, as an independent Dominion within the British Empire, formed a Navy of her own in 1921 and an Air Force (under Army control) in 1923. Both grew slowly, while the Army, after compulsory training ceased in 1930, actually diminished in size. Her commitments, however, had increased and now included the defence of Fiji. She was nevertheless quick off the mark when war threatened in 1939 and in fact “beat the gun” by dispatching the cruiser Achilles for America on 29 August and her sister ship the Leander next day with a platoon of infantry to guard the cable station at tiny Fanning Island (near the Equator, halfway across the Pacific). On 3 September the Government did not hesitate to follow the United Kingdom in declaring war on Germany.