The 3rd Battalion, Auckland (Countess of Ranfurly's Own) and Northland Regiment was a Territorial Force Battalion of the

Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment The Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment is the parent administrative regiment and corps of regular and reserve infantry battalions in the New Zealand Army. It was originally formed in 1947 with a singular Regular regiment and multiple reserve r ...

, with headquarters in Arch Hill Auckland Army Centre. The unit consists of company-sized units which have their headquarters in Auckland and Whangarei. The unit was part of Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) headquartered at Waiouru (see

Structure of the New Zealand Army This article describes the current structure of the New Zealand Army. It includes the army's order of battle and the headquarters locations of major units. History From the 1880s, the structure of the army has evolved with changing defence need ...

History

The Auckland and Northland Regiments can trace their roots back to the early colonial days of New Zealand. The oldest unit it traces its heritage back is the Auckland Fencibles, a militia defence unit of Auckland formed in 1846. They were a key player in the

Invasion of Waikato The Invasion of the Waikato became the largest and most important campaign of the 19th-century New Zealand Wars. Hostilities took place in the North Island of New Zealand between the military forces of the colonial government and a federation ...

. The unit then moved on to play other key roles in the New Zealand land wars, in which earned the battle honour 'New Zealand', which was not added to the Auckland Regiments battle honours and recently there has been agitation to keep it that way. 1st Auckland Infantry (Countess of Ranfurly's Own) Battalion was then formed from the amalgamation of the Victoria Rifles, New Zealand Native Rifles, Auckland Rifles, Gordon Rifles, Avondale Rifles and Newtown Rifles in 1898. In Northland a similar amalgamation took place in 1911 after Sir Alexander Godley's reforms of the Territorial Cadre in 1910. At the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

both the Auckland and Northland Regiments provided a 250-man company to the 1000 strong infantry battalion that was raised from the Auckland region. This was named the 1st Battalion Auckland Regiment with 2nd and 3rd Battalions being raised later in the war. Three

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

es were awarded to members of the Auckland Regiment in the Great War. During

World War II 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 ...

the Auckland and Northland Regiments contributed mainly to the

18th 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19. In mathematics * Eighteen is a composite number, its divisors being 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9. Three of these divisors (3, 6 and 9) add up to 18, hence 18 is a semiperfect number. ...

, 21st, 24th and 29th Battalions. The Regiments were awarded 10 battle honours in recognition of the role played by soldiers in these battalions. The Northland Regiment also has strong links to 28th Maori Battalion. In 1948 the two regiments were reformed as part of the post-war

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

. The 11/4 Artillery Battery can trace its lineage to 1/1 Battery and 4 Medium Battery of the New Zealand Artillery Regiment. Then, in 1964 they were amalgamated as a Battalion under the umbrella of a single Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment and formed the current unit; the 3rd Auckland (Countess of Ranfurly's Own) Battalion Group. The 3rd Battalion was formed by the amalgamation of the 3rd Auckland (Countess of Ranfurly's Own) and Northland Regiments in 1965. The amalgamation saw the new battalion become a TF battalion of the

. This was until the later reorganisation of 1999, which saw the TF battalions split from the RNZIR to become multi-function battalion groups. The Auckland and Northland Regiment became the 3rd Auckland (Countess of Ranfurly's Own) and Northland Battalion Group. In recent years, members of the unit have once more been called upon to volunteer for overseas service. In 2000 and 2001, many members of the unit served with NZBatt 3, the third rotation of Kiwi troops in

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...

. Soldiers from the unit have also formed part of two deployments to the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

, the first in 2007 and the second in 2008.

Role

The role of the unit is to provide trained volunteers for overseas operations as required, as well as a trained pool of personnel to be able to respond to civil emergency tasks within New Zealand. In order to meet these roles the Unit trains regularly throughout the year. Training is broken down into three-hour training nights, regular weekend exercises and an annual two-week exercise. The unit is a multi-combat role

Battalion Group A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...

in which CO 3rd Auckland and Northland Battalion Group can call on a range of different arms to achieve an objective. It consists of Light Infantry; Light Artillery, Field Engineers, Medical Personal, Combat Service Support (CSS) and Communication support. *Infantry – Alpha Company (Northland), Charlie Company (Auckland), Delta Company (Support) *Artillery – 11/4 Battery, RNZA Attached to Papakura Military Camp *Engineers – 1 North Troop; 1 Field Squadron, RNZE *Medical – HST,1 Health Company, RNZAMC *Logistics – 1 Logistics Company, RNZALR *Band - Band of the Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery *Signallers – 24 Sig Troop, 2 Sig Squadron, RNZSigs

Battle honours

The following battle honours were authorised to be emblazoned on the colours: *South Africa 1900–1902 *

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

: ANZAC, Krithia, Gallipoli 1915, Somme 1916–1918, Flers–Courcelette, Messines 1917, Passchendaele, Arras 1918, Bapaume, Canal Du Nord *

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 ...

: Mount Olympus, Crete, Sidi Rezegh 1941, El Alamein, Tebaga Gap, Takrouna, The Sangro, Cassino 1, The Senio, Solomons

Honorary Colonel

On 9 October 2007 former

Governor-General of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand ( mi, te kāwana tianara o Aotearoa) is the viceregal representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and li ...

Dame Catherine Tizard Dame Catherine Anne Tizard (née Maclean; 4 April 1931 – 31 October 2021) was a New Zealand politician who served as mayor of Auckland City from 1983 to 1990, and the 16th governor-general of New Zealand from 1990 to 1996. She was the first ...

was appointed Honorary Colonel of the Regiment, a largely ceremonial role. In 2011 this appointment passed to Lieutenant Colonel (Retd) Grant Ellis ED, RNZIR, a former Commanding Officer of the regiment (1994–1997).Army Reserve – Territorial Force – Retiring Honorary Colonel – A Class Act

Alliances

* –

The Royal Anglian Regiment The Royal Anglian Regiment (R ANGLIAN) is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It consists of two Regular battalions and one Reserve battalion. The modern regiment was formed in 1964, making it the oldest of the Line Regiments now operating i ...

Freedoms

The regiment was granted the following

freedoms Political freedom (also known as political autonomy or political agency) is a central concept in history and political thought and one of the most important features of democratic societies.Hannah Arendt, "What is Freedom?", ''Between Past and F ...

: *City of Whangarei (1964) *City of

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 ...

(1966)

References

External links

Regiments.org

{{DEFAULTSORT:Auckland (Countess Of Ranfurly's Own) And Northland Regiment Infantry regiments of New Zealand Military units and formations established in 1965 Military units and formations disestablished in 2013