New Zealand - WWII - New Zealand Forces - Soldiers with trucks, Italy - Family Snap Shot - Original Photo #337748 New Zealand World War 2 - The population of New Zealand in 1940 was about 1,600,000. - About 140,000 New Zealand men and women served, 104,000 in 2NZEF, the rest in the British or New Zealand naval or air forces. - Fatal casualties during the conflict numbered 11,928 (Commonwealth War Graves Commission figures). - Post-war calculations indicated that New Zealand's ratio of killed per million of population (at 6684) was the highest in the Commonwealth (with Britain at 5123 and Australia, 3232). - In contrast to its entry into the First World War, New Zealand acted in its own right by formally declaring war on Germany on 3 September (unlike Australia, which held that the King's declaration, as in 1914, automatically extended to all his Dominions). (Reference: read more at https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/second-world-war/fighting-for-britain)