This period would see the RNZAOC. Continue to support Regular, Territorial and Compulsory Military Training. Ongoing support to Kayforce would continue.[1]
Key Appointments
Director of Ordnance Services
- Lieutenant Colonel F Reid, OBE
Southern Military District
Ordnance Officer
- Captain A.A Barwick
Compulsory Military Training
During this period three CMT intakes marched in;[2]
- 6th intake of 2850 recruits on 19 Jun 1952
- 7th intake of 2645 recruits on 11 Sept 1952
- 8th intake of 2831 recruits on 8 Jan 1953
On completion of CMT recruit training, recruits were posted to Territorial units close to their home location to complete their CMT commitment, with RNZAOC CMT recruits posted to either;
- 1st Infantry Brigade Ordnance Field Park Platoon, Hopuhopu.
- 2nd Infantry Brigade Ordnance Field Park Platoon, Mangaroa.
- 3rd Infantry Brigade Ordnance Field Park Platoon, Burnham.
- 1 Armoured Brigade Ordnance Field Park Platoon.
Territorial Force
The Ordnance Headquarters of the New Zealand Division, was on 19 Apr 1952 re-designated as Headquarters CRNZAOC New Zealand Division (HQ CRNZAOC NZ Div).[3]
Kayforce
The RNZAOC continued to support Kayforce with the dispatch of regular consignments of Maintenance stores and with all additional requests for stores by Kayforce met.
This period saw the first RNZAOC men rotated and replaced out of Kayforce;
Out of Kayforce
- Staff Sergeant Neville Wallace Beard, 3 Jun 1952
- Lance Corporal James Ivo Miller, 21 Jun 1952
- Lieutenant Colonel Geoferry John Hayes Atkinson, 15 Jan 1953
- Corporal Desmond Mervyn Kerslake, 18 Mar 1953
Into Kay force
- TEAL Flight from Auckland,15 May 1952
- Private Dennis Arthur Astwood
- TEAL Flight from Wellington, 7 Jun 1952
- Corporal Wiremu Matenga
- TEAL Flight from Wellington, 14 Jun 1952
- Sergeant Barry Stewart
- TEAL Flight from Auckland, 30 Jun 1952
- Lance Corporal Thomas Joseph Fitzsimons
- Private Gane Cornelius Hibberd
- TEAL Flight from Wellington, 30 Aug 1952
- Staff Sergeant James Russell Don
- 1 Sept 1952
- Corporal Gordon Winstone East
- TEAL Flight from Auckland, 23 Dec 1952
- Captain Patrick William Rennison
- TEAL Flight from Auckland, 3 Mar 1953
- Lance Corporal Alexander George Dobbins
Coronation Contingent
On 2 Jun 1953, Queen Elizabeth II was crowned as monarch of the United Kingdom and British Commonwealth of nations. To commemorate the coronation, New Zealand provided a contingent of 75 Officers and men. RNZAOC soldier Temporary Staff Sergeant Earnest Maurice Alexander Bull was appointed as the Contingent Quartermaster Sergeant.[4] T/SSgt Bull would travel with the contingent on the long and uncomfortable return trip to the United Kingdom on the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney. Despite some controversy on the inadequate accommodation provided on the HMAS Sydney and quality of the New Zealand uniforms compared to the Australians, it was still considered a privilege to be part of the contingent.[5] A highlight for Bull was when he held the appointment of Sergeant of the Guard at St James Palace.
Ordnance Conferences
Ordnance Conference 16 – 18 September 1952
The Director of Ordnance Services hosted a conference of the Districts DADOS and the Officer Commanding Main Ordnance Depot (MOD) at Army Headquarters over the period 16-18 September 1952.[6]
Ordnance Conference 21-23 April 1953
The Director of Ordnance Services hosted a conference of the Districts DADOS and the Officer Commanding Main Ordnance Depot (MOD) at Army Headquarters over the period 21-23 April 1953.
Items discussed at the conference included;
- Corps Policy
- Corps Establishments
- Estimation of expenditure
- Provision
- Vehicles and Spares
- LAD tools
- Standard packages
- District problems
Routine Ordnance Activities
Over this period the RNZAOC in addition to its regular duties of provision, holding and the issue of multitudinous stores required by the Army including the additional issue of training equipment to the territorial Force allowing all units sufficient equipment for normal training.
Ammunition Examiner Qualification
Private Luskie qualified as an Ammunition Examiner as AE No 75
Small Arms Ammunition
Production of small-arms ammunition had met the monthly target, with the ammunition, fully proofed and inspected before acceptance.
Introduction of New Equipment
As new equipment was introduced, the RNZAOC would play an essential role in the acceptance processes. Upon delivery from the supplier, the equipment, its accessories and spares would be received into an RNZAOC Depot. The equipment would be inspected and kitted out with all its accessories before distribution to units. Depending on the equipment, several examples may have been retained in RNZAOC Depots as War Reserve/Repair and Maintenance Stock. Maintenance stocks of accessories and spares were maintained as operating stock in RNZAOC depots. If the new equipment was or contained a weapon system, ammunition specific to the equipment was managed by RNZAOC Ammunition Depots.
During this period, the following equipment was introduced into service;[7]
- 384 Series 1 80″ Land-Rovers
- 11 Daimler Mk 2 Armoured Cars[8]
New Headdress trial
It was announced in December 1952 that a trial to replace the famous “Lemon Squeezer” hat was to be undertaken.[9] Reintroduced in 1949 as the official peacetime headdress, the Lemon Squeezer was found to be unsuitable because it could not be rolled up or placed into a pocket without losing its shape.[10] One it the items to be trialled was a Canadian style peaked ski caps made of brown serge wool used in the Battle Dress uniform.
Trentham Camp Commandant
For the first time since 1931, the appointment of Trentham Camp Commandant would be filled by an Ordnance Officer. In December 1952, Major D Roderick the incumbent Officer Commanding of the Main Ordnance Depot would take up the additional appointment of Trentham Camp Commandant.[11] Assisting Major Roderick as the Regimental Sergeant Major of bothTrentham Camp and the Main Ordnance Depot was Warrant Office Class One Alfred Wesseldine.[12]
Linton Fire
A fire in the ordnance store at Linton Military Camp on 15 February destroyed a quantity of Army stores and records and left a large part of the building gutted with losses valued at £11695 (2021 NZD$706492.66).
Hope Gibbons Fire
On 29 July 1952, fire broke out in the Hope Gibbons building in Wellington. Located in Dixon Street, the eight story Hope Gibbons office block became a towering inferno after a vat of industrial thinners caught alight in an adjacent building to the rear. One of the unsatisfactory and dispersed locations of the government archives, the building held numerous public records from the Public Works, Lands and Survey, Labour and Employment, Agriculture, Marine and Defence Departments. Many of the paper records dating back to 1840 were destroyed or damaged. Some records were salvaged and are still undergoing conservation work.
Included in the Defence Department files were many of the records of the Colonial Storekeeper, Defence Stores Department and the early Ordnance Corps, including records from the 1st and 2nd World Wars. The destruction and damage of these records created a significant gap in the historiography of the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps.
The tremendous loss of public records in this fire prompted the establishment of the National Archives in 1957.[13]
Honours List
Long Service and Good Conduct
- Warrant Officer Class One Bernard Percy Banks, Southern Districts Vehicle Depot, 16 Oct 1952.[14]
- Warrant Officer Class One William Galloway, Central District Ordnance Depot, Waiouru Sub Depot, 25 Sept 1952
Enlistments into the RNZAOC
- Brian Gush –16 May 1952
- Robert J Plummer – 16 Sept 1952
- John B Glasson – 9 Dec 1952
- Thomas Woon – 17 Jun 1952
Transferred into the RNZAOC from other Corps
- Warrant Officer Class One William Galloway from NZ Regiment to RNZAOC, June 1952
- Warrant Officer Class One Ronald William Stitt from The Royal New Zeland Artillery to be Lieutenant and Quartermaster, RNZAOC from15 March 1953.[15]
Re-Engagements into the New Zealand Regular Force
With effect 1 Apr 1952, the undermentioned members of the RNZAOC were re-engaged into the NZ Regular Force;
- Staff Sergeant M.J Ayers (NZWAC), 2 years
- Sergeant B.N Evans, three years
- Sergeant A, Grigg. Three years
- Sergeant S.F Pyne, one year
- Private (Temp LCpl) M.J Somerville (NZWAC).
Promotions
To Lieutenant and Quartermaster
- Warrant Officer Class One Arthur Fraser [16]
- Warrant Officer Class Two (Temp WO1) Ronald John Crossman [17]
- Warrant Officer Class One George William Dudman[18]
To Lieutenant
- 1952, Lieutenant (on probation) J. H. Doone, with seniority from 25 Oct 1948.[19]
Transferred to Reserve of Officers
The following officer was transferred to the Reserve of Officer with effect 17 Nov 1952;[20]
- Lieutenant R. K. Treacher
Notes
[1] “H-19 Military Forces of New Zealand Annual Report of the General Officer Commanding, for Period 1 April 1952 to 31 March 1953 “, Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives (1953).
[2] Peter Cooke, Fit to Fight. Compulsory Military Training and National Service in New Zealand 1949-72 (Auckland: David Ling Publishing, 2013), 539.
[3] Chief of Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps “Units Resignated,” New Zealand Gazette No 32, 19 April 1953, 554.
[4] Howard E. Chamberlain, Service Lives Remembered : The Meritorious Service Medal in New Zealand and Its Recipients, 1895-1994 ([Wellington, N.Z.]: H. Chamberlain, 1995), 67-68.
[5] ” N.Z. Contingent Protests on Coronation Voyage,” Townsville Daily Bulletin (Qld. : 1907 – 1954) 7 May 1953
[6] Conferences – Ordnance Officers, Item Id R17188101 (Wellington: Archives New Zealand, 1950).
[7] Damien Fenton, A False Sense of Security : The Force Structure of the New Zealand Army 1946-1978, Occasional Paper / Centre for Strategic Studies: New Zealand: No. 1 (Centre for Strategic Studies: New Zealand, Victoria University of Wellington, 1998), Bibliographies, Non-fiction, 21.
[8] Ibid.
[9] “NZ Army May Get Ski Cap,” Burra Record (SA : 1878 – 1954) 16 Dec 1952.
[10] “Lemon Squeezer Back as Official Army Hat,” Northern Advocate, 16 February 1949.
[11] Howard Weddell, Trentham Camp and Upper Hutt’s Untold Military History (Howard Weddell, 2018), Bibliographies, Non-fiction, 226.
[12] Major J.S Bolton, A History of the Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps (Trentham: RNZAOC, 1992), 266.
[13] Stuart Strachan, “Hope Gibbons Fire, Archives – Government Archives,” Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand (2014).
[1 4]Chamberlain, Service Lives Remembered : The Meritorious Service Medal in New Zealand and Its Recipients, 1895-1994, 32-33.
[15] “Appointments, Promotions, Transfers, and Resignations, of Officers of the New Zealand Army “, New Zealand Gazette No 35, 9 June 1949.
[16] Ibid., 569.
[17]Ibid.
[18] Ibid.
[19] “Appointments, Promotions, Transfers, and Resignations, of Officers of the New Zealand Army “, New Zealand Gazette No 75, 27 November 1953, 1959.
[20] “Appointments, Promotions, Transfers, and Resignations, of Officers of the New Zealand Army “, 569.
"To the Warrior His Arms" 