Editing New Zealand Defence Force (section)

===Separate services (from 1909)===
{{more citations needed section|date=February 2012}}
:''See [[Royal New Zealand Navy]], [[New Zealand Army]], [[Royal New Zealand Air Force]]''
[[File:14 NZ Brigade Group landing, Point Cruz, Guadalcanal World War II (13971875862).jpg|thumb|New Zealand troops land on [[Guadalcanal]] in the Solomons]]
Independent New Zealand armed forces developed in the early twentieth century; the [[Royal New Zealand Navy]] was the last to emerge as an independent service in 1941.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.navymuseum.mil.nz/history/time/ww2/1941-rnzn/default.htm |title=1941 Royal New Zealand Navy Established |access-date=17 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081017193216/http://navymuseum.mil.nz/history/time/ww2/1941-rnzn/default.htm |archive-date=17 October 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Prior to that time it had been the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy. New Zealand forces served alongside the British and other Empire and Commonwealth nations in [[World War I]] and [[World War II]].

The fall of [[Battle of Singapore|Singapore]] in 1942 showed that Britain could no longer protect its far-flung Dominions. Closer military ties were therefore necessary for New Zealand's defence. With United States entering the war, they were an obvious choice. Links with Australia had also been developed earlier; both nations sent troops to the [[Boer War|Anglo-Boer War]] and New Zealand officer candidates had trained at Australia's [[Royal Military College, Duntroon|Royal Military College Duntroon]] since 1911, a practice that continues to this day. A combined Australian and New Zealand Army Corps ([[ANZAC]]) was formed for the [[Gallipoli campaign]] during World War I, and its exploits are key events in the military history of both countries.

The NZDF came into existence under the [[Defence Act 1990]]. Under previous legislation, the three services were part of the Ministry of Defence. Post-1990, the Ministry of Defence is a separate, policy-making body under a Secretary of Defence, equal in status to the Chief of Defence Force.