As the RNZAOC organisation matured in the late 1950’s, it became apparent that the system in place of having separate Ordnance, Vehicle and Ammunition Depots located in the same locations, but under different command arrangements was impracticable and not an efficient use of resources. Starting in 1961 a reorganisation was undertaken to consolidate administrative, accounting and stores functions under one headquarters. The restructuring would ensure that there would only be one RNZAOC depot in each district, which would consist of;

• Headquarters,
• Stores Sub-Depot,
• Ammunition Sub-Depot,
• Vehicle Sub-Depot
• Traffic Centre.

To achieve this all the existing Stores, Ammunition and Vehicle depots would become Sub-depots of a District Ordnance Depot, designated as;

• Northern Districts Ordnance Depot (NDOD) – Ngaruawahia,
• Central Districts Ordnance Depot (CDOD) – Linton,
• Southern Districts Ordnance Depot (SDOD) – Burnham

The outline shape of the new Depots is shown as;

Responsibilities

Officer commanding

A Major, the Officer Commanding  was responsible for;

• Command of the depot
• Policy
• Administrations including personnel matters.

2IC, Stores and Planning officer

Either a Captain of Senior Lieutenant the 2IC, Stores and Planning officer was responsible for;

• Depot Planning,
• Receipt, preservation, storage, maintenance, issue,
• Storehouse layout,
• Warehouse methods,
• Procedure instructions,
• Depot Workshops,
• Traffic Centre,
• Depot Transport officer,
• Security,
• Fire Precautions.

The 2IC, Stores and Planning officer would usually be assisted by the Foreman IC Stores (FICS) who would have been a senior Warrant Officer.

Accounting Officer

Either a Captain of Senior Lieutenant the  Accounting Officer was responsible for;

• Accounting for Stores,
• Provision,
• Claims,
• Stocktaking,
• Correspondence in connection with Stores,
• Accounting for Articles in use.

Ammunition Technical Officers

ATO’s could have been any of the Depots officers who would have to balance their regular duties with their Ammo responsibility.

Depot HQ

Each HQ consisted of an;

• Administrative Group, and
• Accounts Group

Records from all three Sub-Depots were centralised in the HQ, and all administrative and accounting functions (including Workshop accounting) were performed there.

Administrative Group

Controlled by a Chief Clerk who was directly responsible to the OC for;

• Records,
• Technical Library including amendments,
• Typing and reproductions,
• Stationary including Army forms,
• Mail – receipt, registration, dispatch,
• Personnel administration as directed, and
• Orderly room – Unit administration, ROs, etc.

Accounts Group

Controlled by the Accounting Officer, who would be appointed for the two accounts in the Depot:

• The main stores account embracing all general stores, ammunition and vehicles, and
• The A in U account, which included all articles in use by all parts of the Depot

The Accounts Group was comprised of the following sections;

• Control – General Stores, ammunition and vehicle ledgers
• Ledger Checking – To provide:
  • 100% check of all ledger postings of Clothing and Ammunition.
  • 25% check of all other postings.
• Provision – Annual and periodic provision reviews for all types of stores, and to progress demands and orders.
• Claims –Passing of accounts for payment, financial aspects of “On Payment” transactions, hires etc.
• Stocktaking -Responsible for continuous stocktaking of all stores (including ammunition), aimed at completion once every 3 years.

Stores Sub-Depots

The Stores Sub-Depots consisted of the following Groups;

• Hardware
• Clothing
• Camp Equipment
• Technical Stores
• Returned Stores and Disposals, in addition to the conventional functions this group included;
  •  Textile Repair Workshop,
  • Footwear Repair Workshop,
  • Tailors,
  • Carpenters.

The functions within in Stores Groups were accepted as standard;

• Receipts
  • Receiving
  • Unpacking
  • Identifying
  • Checking
  • Discrepancies and queries
• Storage
  • Detail
    • Preserving
    • Binning
    • Maintaining
    • Amending Location and catalogue information
    • Selecting for issue
  • Bulk
    • Preserving
    • Packing for bulk storage
    • Bulk stacking
    • Selecting for issue
    • Dispatching.

Note: In a small group one person would have performed all or most of the above functions.

A typical representation of the staffing of  a large Group  is shown in the following diagram;

Ammunition Sub-Depots

Ammunition Sub-Depots consisted of:

• Ammunition Inspection Section.
• Ammunition Repair Section.
• Non-Explosive Store.
• Ammunition Areas;
  • NDOD
    • Ardmore.
    • Kelm road.
    • Ngaruawahia
  • CDOD
    • Waiouru.
    • Makomako.
    • Belmont.
    • Trentham.
  • SDOD
    • Burnham.
    • Glentunnel.
    • Fairlie.
    • Mt Somers.

Vehicle Sub-Depots

Vehicle Depots consisted of:

• Vehicle Park
• Kit Store

A RNZEME Maintenance Section was sometimes included as part of the Depot.

In the CDOD and SDOD the Vehicle group control functions were incorporated into the Depot HQ, In NDOD the Control functions were located at Sylvia Park and not at the depot HQ Ngaruawahia.

Traffic Centres

The NCO IC Traffic was directly responsible to the Stores officer and had the responsibility for the control and coordination of the Depots transport, Including;

• Servicing,
• Repair,
• Vehicle registrations,
• Warrants of fitness,
• POL returns.

Establishments

Although similar in function, based on their location, dependency and infrastructure each Ordnance Depot had a slightly different structure, as much as possible the terms used to name positions were standardised against the following definitions.

• Chief Clerk –  Clerk in charge of a Group, or 2IC of an HQ Group controlled by an Officer.
• Senior Clerk – Clerk in charge of a Section of an HQ Group clerks
• Chief Storeman – Storeman in charge of
  1. A group of a Stores Sub-Depot,
  2. A Vehicle Sub-depot,
  3. Traffic Centre.
• Senior Storeman – Storeman in charge of:
  1. A Section of a Stores Group,
  2. An Ammunition Area storeman,
  3. A Vehicle Park storeman,
  4. A Kit Store storeman.
• Chief Ammunition Technician – The WO1 in charge of an Inspection Section
• Senior Ammunition Technician – he AT in charge of the Repair Section
• Foreman – The Tradesman in charge of a RNZAOC Workshop

Copies of the 2 District Ordnance Depots establishments can seen on the attached Links;

Northern District Ordnance Depot Establishment

Central District Ordnance Depot Establishment

Southern District Ordnance Depot Establishment

Summary

The District Ordnance Depots remained until 1968 when they were reorganised  again and became;

• Northern Districts Ordnance Depot – became 1 Central Ordnance Depot (1COD),
• Central Districts Ordnance Depot – became 2 Central Ordnance Depot (2COD),
• Southern Districts Ordnance Depot – became 3 Central Ordnance Depot (3COD).

Copyright © Robert McKie 2017