 After meeting motor transport , the battalion moved back to Ay <unk> , which they began to prepare to defend in order to help seal off the exit of the Olympus pass . The withdrawal continued , though , and on 19 April the Māori Battalion was called upon conduct a delaying action as the rest of the 5th Infantry Brigade pulled back through Larisa towards Lamia , 80 miles ( 130 km ) south . Along roads packed with vehicles and civilian traffic they withdrew amidst considerable confusion . Upon arrival at Thermopylae the battalion had had just enough time to dig in before receiving the order that they were to move their position in order to make way for the 6th Infantry Brigade . They completed this move by 21 April , taking up the same positions that Leonidas and his army had defended against Xerxes in 480 BC , according to legend . Here they took up position in a marsh and as they made preparations for its defence , on 22 April , in Athens , the decision was made that the units of the British Commonwealth forces would be withdrawn from the country . 
