This Volume is the Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War and was originally published in 1955 by the Government of New Zealand, through the Department of Internal Affairs. This is a reprint of that original title, which was printed in the United States of America 1997 with in a contractual arrangement between Internal Affairs Department of New Zealand and The Battery Press Incorporated, Nashville, Tennessee 37219 United States of America, jointly with The Imperial War Museum, London. The book begins with a short account of the variations in strategic circumstances affecting defence policy on Crete up to the end of April 1941. It then relates the hurried preparations to resist invasion with troops already on the Island and those evacuated from Greece. An account of the defensive plan and dispositions finally adopted, and of the German strength. The plan of attack; the first major air-borne operation, precedes a detailed day-by-day account of the fighting in the various sectors, to the withdrawal and the evacuation of the island. The book ends with a short chapter of conclusions in which the defensive policy and its execution are discussed.