New Zealand was one of the first countries to become involved in the global conflict which was to become World War Two.

In contrast to its entry into the First World War, This time New Zealand acted in its own right by formally declaring war on Germany (unlike Australia , which still held that the King’s declaration , as in 1914 , automatically extended to all his Dominions). Officially, New Zealand’s declaration of war was simultaneous with Britain’s, at the expiry of the British government’s ultimatum to Germany to withdraw from Poland (9.30 p.m. NZ Standard Time, 11 a.m. British )