The Wellington Regiment (City of Wellington's Own) was a territorial infantry regiment of the
New Zealand Army
, image = New Zealand Army Logo.png
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. The regiment traced its origins to the Wellington Veteran Volunteer Corps, a
volunteer corps formed in 1867 and which would later amalgamate with other volunteer corps to form the 5th (Wellington) Regiment in 1911. During the
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 ...
, the regiment was first sent to capture
German Samoa
German Samoa (german: Deutsch-Samoa) was a German protectorate from 1900 to 1920, consisting of the islands of Upolu, Savai'i, Apolima and Manono, now wholly within the independent state of Samoa, formerly ''Western Samoa''. Samoa was the last ...
in August 1914 and was later affiliated with the
New Zealand Rifle Brigade
The New Zealand Rifle Brigade (Earl of Liverpool's Own), affectionately known as The Dinks, was formed on 1 May 1915 as the third brigade of the New Zealand Division, part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. During the First World War it foug ...
which saw combat on the
Western Front. After the war, the regiment was renamed the Wellington Regiment and remained in New Zealand for home defence 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 ...
. Men from the regiment, however, served with the
19th,
22nd,
25th and
36th Battalions of the
Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. In 1964, the Wellington Regiment was amalgamated with the
Hawke's Bay Regiment
The Hawke's Bay Regiment was a territorial infantry regiment of the New Zealand Military Forces. The regiment traced its origins to the Napier Rifle Volunteer Rifles, a volunteer corps formed in 1863 and which would later amalgamate with other v ...
to become
7th Battalion (Wellington (City of Wellington's Own) and Hawke's Bay),
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 ...
. The 7th Battalion was itself later amalgamated with the
5th Battalion and became
5th/7th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment in 2012. The traditions of the Wellington Regiment are now continued by Wellington Company, 5/7 RNZIR.
History
19th Century
![Wellington Guards 1900](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Wellington_Guards_1900.png)
In 1867, the Wellington Veteran Volunteer Corps was formed from former soldiers of
British regiments which had served in New Zealand. The volunteers were mobilised during
Tītokowaru's War in 1868 and were split into two groups: the Wellington Rifles and the Wellington Forest Rangers. Both units were involved in the raid on Te Ngutu o Te Manu on 21 August 1868 and suffered 3 men killed. The village was used as a base by
Tītokowaru
Riwha Tītokowaru (c. 1823–1888) was a Māori leader in the Taranaki region of New Zealand.
Early life
Riwha was a subtribal leader (having succeeded his father "Tītokowaru") of the Ngāti Ruanui and Ngāruahine iwi in South Taranaki. A lo ...
, however he was not captured during the raid. A further six men from the Wellington Rifles and Forest Rangers were killed during a second attack on the village on 7 September. Many of the men were disgusted by the mismanagement of the expedition and the volunteers returned to Wellington in October once their three months of service had been completed.
In order to keep up their numbers, the Wellington Veterans began to accept the sons of veterans and in 1895 changed their title to the Wellington City Rifles (commonly known as the City Rifles).
In 1879, the City Rifles would be joined by another volunteer corps, the Wellington Guards, which wore the uniform of the
Grenadier Guards
"Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it."
, colors =
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, march = Slow: " Scipio"
, mascot =
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, equipment ...
. A further expansion of the volunteers saw four more Wellington based volunteers corps formed in 1885 and all six companies were constituted into the Wellington Rifle Volunteer Battalion. The battalion was disbanded in 1888, although the City Rifles and Wellington Guards continued to exist. The battalion structure returned once again in 1895 and this time the City Rifles and Guards became part of the Wellington Battalion of Infantry Volunteers, which constituted all of the infantry volunteers of the Wellington Military district (the lower half of the
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 ...
). They were joined by a third Wellington based corps, the
Kelburn Rifles in 1895.
A massive enlargement of the volunteer movement occurred in 1898 and the battalions were reorganised. The City Rifles, Wellington Guards and Kelburn Rifles joined eight newly raised volunteer corps to form the 1st Battalion, Wellington Rifle Volunteers. This new battalion was formed exclusively from Wellington-based volunteer corps.
Both the City Rifles and Wellington Guards took part in the
invasion of Parihaka in 1881.
During the
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...
(1899-1902), the New Zealand Government sent a number of
mounted rifles contingents to fight in South Africa. A number of men from the Wellington Rifle Volunteers served with these contingents
In 1910, a system of compulsory military training was implemented in New Zealand and the Territorial Force replaced the Volunteer Force. Following these reforms, the 1st Battalion Wellington Rifle Volunteers became an independent regiment in 1911. Initially the battalion was redesignated as the 5th (Wellington Rifles) Regiment, however the word "Rifles" was dropped from the title in 1913 so that the regiment could be authorised to carry
colours
Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...
(
rifle regiments
A rifle regiment is a military unit consisting of a regiment of infantry troops armed with rifles and known as riflemen. While all infantry units in modern armies are typically armed with rifled weapons the term is still used to denote regiments t ...
do nor carry colours).
First World War
![Officers of 5th Wellington Regiment Samoa WW1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Officers_of_5th_Wellington_Regiment_Samoa_WW1.jpg)
With the out break of the
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 ...
in August 1914, the British Government requested for New Zealand to send a military force to capture the
German colony of Samoa. The
Samoa Expeditionary Force
The Samoa Expeditionary Force (SEF) was a small volunteer force of approximately 1,400 men raised in New Zealand shortly after the outbreak of World War I to seize and destroy the German wireless station in German Samoa in the south-west Pacifi ...
was dispatched on 15 August and consisted of around 1400 soldiers and nurses. The 5th (Wellington) Regiment provided two infantry companies, for a total of 559 men, which was the largest contribution of any unit in the New Zealand Military Forces. 26 men from the regimental band also travelled with the expeditionary force. Samoa was
occupied
' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October ...
without incident and the occupation force was relieved in April 1915 by a smaller force of 360 personnel who were unfit for active service.
After the Samoa expeditionary force had been despatched, the New Zealand Government decided to form an infantry brigade of four battalions from the existing territorial regiments. Each infantry battalion was made up of four companies with each company being affiliated with one of the territorial regiments. As the 5th (Wellington) Regiment was already largely overseas, it was excluded from this process. The Wellington Infantry Regiment was therefore formed from the other regiments of the Wellington Military District, namely the 7th (Wellington West Coast),
9th (Hawke's Bay) Regiment,
11th Regiment (Taranaki Rifles), and
17th (Ruahine) Regiment. Ironically the 5th (Wellington) Regiment was not affiliated with the Wellington Infantry Regiment and instead became affiliated with the
New Zealand Rifle Brigade
The New Zealand Rifle Brigade (Earl of Liverpool's Own), affectionately known as The Dinks, was formed on 1 May 1915 as the third brigade of the New Zealand Division, part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. During the First World War it foug ...
. Following the war, the Wellington Regiment inherited the black blaze insignia used by the New Zealand Rifle Brigade
The New Zealand Rifle Brigade was a newly raised regiment and unlike the other infantry regiments recruited nationally. It initially consisted of two battalions, which arrived in Egypt in November 1915 and became part of the
Western Frontier Force
The Western Frontier Force was raised from British Empire troops during the Senussi Campaign from November 1915 to February 1917, under the command of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF). Orders for the formation of the force were issued on ...
. A third and fourth battalion joined them in March 1916 and all four battalions became the 3rd (New Zealand Rifle) Brigade of the newly formed
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 ...
. The Regiment fought on the
Western Front, engaging in the battles of the
Somme,
Messines,
Broodseinde,
Passchendaele,
German Spring Offensive and the
Hundred Days' Offensive
The Hundred Days Offensive (8 August to 11 November 1918) was a series of massive Allied offensives that ended the First World War. Beginning with the Battle of Amiens (8–12 August) on the Western Front, the Allies pushed the Central Powers ...
. The New Zealand Rifle Brigade was disbanded at the end of the war.
Interbellum
![Officers of Wellington Regiment 1932](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Officers_of_Wellington_Regiment_1932.jpg)
In 1921, the New Zealand territorial infantry regiments were reorganised into larger regiments, similar to those of the First World War. The 5th (Wellington) Regiment was redesignated as 1st Battalion, Wellington Regiment, while the 7th (Wellington west Coast), 9th (Wellington East Coast) and 11th (Taranaki Rifles) regiments became the 2nd, 3rd and 4th battalions, respectively. The amalgamation was short lived and in 1923 the 2nd, 3rd and 4th battalions reverted to being independent regiments.
In 1938, the Wellington Regiment endeavoured to establish a stronger link between the regiment and the city of
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
. The regiment changed its name to the Wellington Regiment (City of Wellington's Own) and was granted the
freedom of the city
The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...
of Wellington, which gave it the right to march "with swords drawn, colours flying and bayonets fixed" through the city. The Wellington Regiment was the first New Zealand regiment to receive such an honour.
Second World War
The Wellington Regiment remained in New Zealand for home defence 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 ...
and raised a 2nd battalion in November 1940. A 3rd and 4th Battalion were also formed in February 1942 by redesignating the former 2nd and 11th Battalions of the
National Military Reserve, respectively. The 1st, 3rd and 4th Battalions were stationary fortress troops, intended to defend Wellington from Japanese attack, while the 2nd Battalion was intended to have a mobile reactive role as part of the 7th Brigade Group,
4th Division. By June 1943, the war in the pacific was looking favourable for the
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
and a general stand-down was ordered in New Zealand. The wartime battalions, however, were not formally disbanded until April 1944.
Men from the Wellington Regiment saw combat with the battalions associated with the Central Military District. The
19th,
22nd and
25th battalions each had a company designated as A (Wellington) Company, which was affiliated with the Wellington Regiment. These battalions formed part of the
2nd New Zealand Division
The 2nd New Zealand Division, initially the New Zealand Division, was an infantry Division (military), division of the New Zealand Army, New Zealand Military Forces (New Zealand's army) during the World War II, Second World War. The division was ...
and saw action in
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
,
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...
,
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
,
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
and
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. The Wellington Regiment also supplied men to the
36th Battalion of the
3rd New Zealand Division, which saw combat at the
Treasury Islands
Treasury Islands () are a small group of islands a few kilometres to the south of Bougainville and from the Shortland Islands. They form part of the Western Province of the country of Solomon Islands. The two largest islands in the Treasuries ...
.
Post War
As part of the
1953 Coronation Honours, Queen
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
was appointed as
Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment. During the
Royal visit of New Zealand in 1953/54, the Wellington Regiment was granted the unique privilege of mounting the full Military Guard of Honour at the 1954 State Opening of Parliament. The 1954 opening was the first time the
New Zealand Parliament
The New Zealand Parliament ( mi, Pāremata Aotearoa) is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the King of New Zealand ( King-in-Parliament) and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by h ...
had been opened by a reigning monarch and the Wellington Regiment were inspected by the Queen.
A reorganisation of the territorial force in 1961 saw the number of infantry battalions reduced from nine to six. To avoid the disbandment of any regiments, three regiments, including the Wellington Regiment, became "recessed". The recessed regiments would not raise a battalion and only consist of a regimental headquarters, a band and two rifle companies. The two companies would wear the cap badge of the recessed regiment, but be operationally part of a battalion of one of the non-recessed regiments. The Wellington Regiment therefore formed two rifle companies which were A company of the
Wellington West Coast and Taranaki Regiment
The Wellington West Coast and Taranaki Regiment was a Territorial Force unit of the New Zealand Army. It was originally formed in 1948 by the amalgamation of two separate regiments:
*Wellington West Coast Regiment (previously the 7th (Wellingto ...
and D company of the
Hawke's Bay Regiment
The Hawke's Bay Regiment was a territorial infantry regiment of the New Zealand Military Forces. The regiment traced its origins to the Napier Rifle Volunteer Rifles, a volunteer corps formed in 1863 and which would later amalgamate with other v ...
.
In 1964 the territorial regiments were merged into 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 ...
. The Wellington Regiment was amalgamated with the
Hawke's Bay Regiment
The Hawke's Bay Regiment was a territorial infantry regiment of the New Zealand Military Forces. The regiment traced its origins to the Napier Rifle Volunteer Rifles, a volunteer corps formed in 1863 and which would later amalgamate with other v ...
and became
7th Battalion (Wellington (City of Wellington's Own) and Hawke's Bay), Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. The 7th Battalion was itself later amalgamated with the
5th Battalion and became
5th/7th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment in 2012.
Wellington Company, 5/7 RNZIR now continues the traditions of the Wellington Regiment.
Battle Honours and Colours
![Wellington Regiment 1929 Regimental Colour](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Wellington_Regiment_1929_Regimental_Colour.png)
The Wellington Rifle Battalion received a stand of colours in 1887 and were used until 1929 when they were finally laid up in
St Paul's Pro-Cathedral. The second stand of colours were
presented to the Wellington Regiment in the same year. These colours continued to be used after the regiments amalgamation in 1964, with 7th Battalion parading both the colours of the Wellington Regiment and the Hawkes Bay Regiment until they too were laid up in
Wellington Cathedral of St Paul in 1979.
The Wellington Regiment were awarded the following battle honours:
*Second Boer War: South Africa 1899–1902
*First World War:
Egypt 1915–16,
France and Flanders 1916–1918
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Somme 1916,
Flers-Courcelette,
Messines 1917
Messines may refer to:
* Mesen (in French: Messines), a village in Belgium
** Battle of Messines (disambiguation), World War I battles
* Messines, Quebec
Messines is a municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec. It includes the population ...
,
Ypres 1917
Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though
the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...
,
Polygon Wood
In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two to ...
,
Bapaume 1918
The Second Battle of Bapaume was a battle of the First World War that took place at Bapaume in France, from 21 August 1918 to 3 September 1918. It was a continuation of the Battle of Albert and is also referred to as the second phase of that ba ...
,
Hindenburg Line
The Hindenburg Line (German: , Siegfried Position) was a German defensive position built during the winter of 1916–1917 on the Western Front during the First World War. The line ran from Arras to Laffaux, near Soissons on the Aisne. In 191 ...
,
Sambre
The Sambre (; nl, Samber, ) is a river in northern France and in Wallonia, Belgium. It is a left-bank tributary of the Meuse, which it joins in the Wallonian capital Namur.
The source of the Sambre is near Le Nouvion-en-Thiérache, in the Aisne ...
*Second World War:
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
,
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...
,
Belhamed,
Minqar Qaim,
El Alamein
El Alamein ( ar, العلمين, translit=al-ʿAlamayn, lit=the two flags, ) is a town in the northern Matrouh Governorate of Egypt. Located on the Arab's Gulf, Mediterranean Sea, it lies west of Alexandria and northwest of Cairo. , it had ...
,
Enfidaville,
The Sangro,
Cassino 1,
The Senio,
The Treasury Islands
Alliances
–
The York and Lancaster Regiment
The York and Lancaster Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until 1968. The regiment was created in the Childers Reforms of 1881 by the amalgamation of the 65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment o ...
(1913–1964)
Notes
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References
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{{New Zealand Great War Infantry Regiments
Infantry regiments of New Zealand
Military units and formations established in 1867
Military units and formations disestablished in 1964