The 1st Brigade is currently the largest unit of the

New Zealand Army , image = New Zealand Army Logo.png , image_size = 175px , caption = , start_date = , country = , branch = ...

, and contains most of the army's deployable units. The brigade was formed on 13 December 2011 by amalgamating the 2nd Land Force Group and 3rd Land Force Group. Its establishment formed part of the 'Army 2015' package of reforms. Previous 1st Brigades in the New Zealand Army have included a brigade in the Middle East and France, 1916–19, a home defence formation active during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

(part of the North Island home defence 1st Division), and a 1 Brigade / Integrated Expansion Force formed to direct three Territorial Force-formed battalions in the 1970s and 1980s.

History

First World War

The 1st Brigade came into being in Egypt in early 1916, when the New Zealand and Australian Division was re-organised in the wake of the Gallipoli Campaign, and the

New Zealand Division The New Zealand Division was an infantry division of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force raised for service in the First World War. It was formed in Egypt in early 1916 when the New Zealand and Australian Division was renamed after the detachmen ...

was formed. Under the command of Brigadier General Harry Fulton, the brigade initially consisted of four infantry battalions, being the 1st Battalions of the

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

and Wellington Regiments. In this configuration, the brigade was transferred to the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

in Europe, and fought through the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

before the New Zealand Division was restructured. This saw the brigade reconfigured, swapping its two

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

battalions (the 1st Canterbury and 1st Otago) with the two

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

battalions (2nd Auckland and 2nd Wellington) of the 2nd Brigade. This placed all the North Island battalions in the 1st Brigade while all the South Island formations were in the 2nd Brigade. Following this, the brigade fought in the

Battle of Messines Battle of Messines may refer to: *Battle of Messines (1914) *Battle of Messines (1917) The Battle of Messines (7–14 June 1917) was an attack by the British Second Army (General Sir Herbert Plumer), on the Western Front, near the village of ...

and the

Third Battle of Ypres The Third Battle of Ypres (german: link=no, Dritte Flandernschlacht; french: link=no, Troisième Bataille des Flandres; nl, Derde Slag om Ieper), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele (), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by t ...

during 1917, before helping to turn back the German spring offensive in early 1918, and then taking part in the Allied

Hundred Days Offensive The Hundred Days Offensive (8 August to 11 November 1918) was a series of massive Allies of World War I, Allied offensives that ended the First World War. Beginning with the Battle of Amiens (1918), Battle of Amiens (8–12 August) on the Wester ...

in the final months of the war. After the armistice, the brigade was committed briefly to post war occupation duties until the New Zealand Division disbanded in early 1919.

Second World War

The 1st Infantry Brigade was re-established prior to the Second World War as a Territorial Force formation manned by part-time reservists. At the outbreak of war on 3 September 1939, it formed part of the field force for the Northern District. At this time it commanded the 1st Hauraki Regiment (headquartered at

Paeroa Paeroa is a town in the Hauraki District of the Waikato Region in the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the base of the Coromandel Peninsula, it is close to the junction of the Waihou River and Ohinemuri River, and is approximately 20 kilo ...

), 1st North Auckland Regiment ( Whangarei) and 1st Waikato Regiment (

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

). On 1 November 1941, the 1st Brigade became part of the newly formed Northern Division in the Northern Military District. The division's two brigades were the 1st and 12th Brigade Groups. Later the Northern Division became the 1st Division. The 12th Brigade Group was one of the new headquarters, and both these units continued to be manned by reservists. During early 1942, camps were constructed for the 1st Brigade Group in

South Auckland South Auckland is an imprecisely defined urban area of Auckland, New Zealand, with a young population, a relatively large Polynesian and Māori demographic, and lower incomes than other parts of Auckland. The name ''South Auckland'', though not ...

and the 12th Brigade Group at Kaikohe. The 1st Brigade subsequently moved to a camp near Warkworth. After the threat of invasion passed, the 1st Brigade and the other home defence formations were reduced in size during 1943. By the end of the year the seven brigade (including 1st Brigade) and three divisional headquarters comprised a total of 44 personnel, with the soldiers assigned to the Territorial Force units they once commanded having been demobilised. All of these headquarters were disbanded on 1 April 1944.

Post war

In 1950, Northern Military District directed four subordinate Area Headquarters, being Area 1 (HQ Auckland), Area 2 (HQ Tauranga), Area 3 (HQ Whangarei), and Area 4 (HQ Hamilton). In 1963, the Combat Brigade Group (1st Brigade) was established, based on the Northern Military District headquarters at Auckland. Headquarters Northern Military District was disestablished in 1970 and the headquarters became home to Field Force Command.

Reformation

Multinational forces tackle Exercise Kiwi Koru challenges 141114-F-AD344-258

In 2011 the 1st Brigade was reformed from the headquarters of the 2nd Land Force Group at Linton Camp. Its role upon formation was to command all of the New Zealand Army's operational units, other than the 1st New Zealand Special Air Service Regiment. As of December 2011, the brigade comprised: *Headquarters, 1st Brigade ( Linton Military Camp) *1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (Linton Military Camp) *2/1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (

Burnham Military Camp Burnham, also known as Burnham Camp, is the largest army base in New Zealand's South Island. It is located 28 kilometres south of Christchurch on the Canterbury Plains in the Selwyn District, close to the town of Dunsandel. Burnham was named af ...

) *

Queen Alexandra's Mounted Rifles Queen Alexandra's Mounted Rifles (QAMR) is an armoured regiment of the New Zealand Army and forms part of the Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps. The regiment was formed in 1864 and is currently an armoured cavalry unit equipped with NZLAV. Hist ...

(

) *16th Field Regiment, Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery (Linton Military Camp) *2nd Engineer Regiment (Linton Military Camp) *1st Signals Regiment (Linton Military Camp) *2nd Combat Service Support Battalion (Linton Military Camp) *3rd Combat Service Support Battalion (Burnham Military Camp) *2nd Health Services Battalion (Linton Military Camp) *1st Military Police Company (

Trentham Military Camp Trentham Military Camp is a New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) facility located in Trentham, Upper Hutt, near Wellington. Originally a New Zealand Army installation, it is now run by Defence and accommodates all three services. It also hosts Joint ...

)

Order of Battle 2020

Correct as at 28 February 2020: * 1st (New Zealand) Brigade ** Headquarters, 1st Brigade (Linton Military Camp) ** 1st Command Support Regiment (Linton Military Camp) *** 1st (New Zealand) Military Intelligence Company *** 1st Signal Squadron *** 2nd Signal Squadron *** 3rd Signal Squadron (Electronic Warfare) (Burnham Camp) *** 4th Signal Squadron (Burnham Camp) *** 25 Cypher Section **

(Linton Military Camp) *** Wellington East Coast Squadron *** Scots Squadron *** Waikato Mounted Rifles Squadron (Hamilton) *** Support Squadron *** Delta Squadron (inactive) ** 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (Linton Military Camp) *** Alpha Company (inactive) *** Victor Company *** Whiskey Company *** Support Company *** Combat Service Support Company ** 2nd/1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment ( Burnham Camp) *** Alpha Company *** Bravo Company *** Delta Company *** Support Company *** Depot Company *** Combat Service Support Company ** 2/4 Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (Burnham Camp) *** Alpha Company (Christchurch) *** Bravo Company (Dunedin) *** Charlie Company (Invercargill and Nelson) ** 3/6 Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (Papakura Military Camp) *** Northland Company (Whangarei) *** Auckland Company (Auckland) *** Hauraki Company ( Tauranga) ** 5/7 Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (Trentham Military Camp) *** East Coast Company (Napier) *** Wellington Company (Wellington) *** West Coast Company (Whanganui) ** 16th Field Regiment, Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery (Linton Military Camp) *** 161 Battery *** 163 Battery *** 11/4 Battery (Papakura Military Camp) ** 2nd Engineer Regiment,

Royal New Zealand Engineers The Corps of Royal New Zealand Engineers is the administrative corps of the New Zealand Army responsible for military engineering. The role of the Engineers is to assist in maintaining friendly forces' mobility, deny freedom of movement to the ...

(Linton Military Camp) *** 1st Field Squadron *** 2nd Field Squadron *** 3rd Field Squadron (Burnham Camp) *** 25 Engineer Support Squadron *** Emergency Response Squadron ** 2nd Combat Service Support Battalion,

Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment The Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment (The Duke of York's Own), is the New Zealand Army's main military Logistics and combat service support (CSS) element. It is the largest regiment in the NZ Army. History Prior to 1996, the logistic su ...

(Linton Military Camp) *** 10th Transport Company *** 21st Supply Company *** 2nd Workshop Company *** 5th Movements Company *** Combat Service Support Company (North) *** 38th Combat Service Support Company (Army Reserves) ** 3rd Combat Service Support Battalion, Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment (Burnham Camp) *** 3rd Transport Company *** 3rd Catering & Supply Company *** 3rd Workshop Company *** 3 Reserve Company

Notes

References

* * * * * * * *

External links

* New Zealand Army
1 Brigade Factsheet, 2018
{{Anzac, state=collapsed Infantry brigades of New Zealand Infantry brigades of New Zealand in World War II Military units and formations established in 1916 1916 establishments in New Zealand