The passing of the Defence Act 1909 heralded a transformation of the Defence Forces of New Zealand, establishing a military system that influenced the organisation, training and recruitment of the New Zealand Army into the early 1970s. Coming into effect on 28 February 1910, The Act abolished the existing Volunteer system, in its place creating a citizen-based Territorial Army from the units, regiments and Corps of the Volunteer Army.[1] The Territorial Army’s personnel needs would be maintained by a system of Compulsory Military Training (CMT), requiring the registration of all boys and men between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one years of age.[2] The challenge for Captain James O’Sullivan and the staff of the Defence Stores, an organisation already markedly transformed since 1900, was to meet the material need needs of the growing citizen army that New Zealand was creating.
At Buckle Street, Wellington, during the 1913 waterfront strike. Smith, Sydney Charles, 1888-1972: Photographs of New Zealand. Ref: 1/2-048786-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22820606
The following article published in the New Zealand Times on 8 December 1911 provides an eyewitness account of the activities of the Defence Stores in support of the growing citizen army.[3]
While politicians are prating about the cost of the defence scheme, and its more direct enemies are peregrinating from street corner to street corner with soap boxes, the scheme itself is being steadily proceeded with. Some people probably fail to realise what it means to inaugurate an entirely new system of military defence. The necessary legislation came first, then the mapping out of the requirements in men and money, then the excitement of enrolling, and now there is proceeding the part, of which the public see little and hear little, but which perhaps is the most troublesome of all, and materially the most important, viz., the arming and the equipment of themen.
This task is being carried out at the Defence Stores in Buckle Street, Wellington. It requires a visit there to realise the thought, the work, the experience, that are necessary to carry out a big work of this description. When you enter the Buckle Street stores and see the busy toilers and the preparations for the distribution of arms and clothing over the Dominion, you realise that a big work is in progress.
For instance, the uniforms for the territorials have for the past week or two been arriving. So far the outfits for about nine thousand men in a more or less state of completion, have come, to hand. These all have to be sorted out and shelved. They are in graded in sizes, an ingenious system of measurement, the product of the brain of Captain O’Sullivan, Director of Defence Stores, has been applied, whereby almost any sized youth be fitted. Measuring has been proceeding in the various centres. A form is filled up by the regimental quartermaster for each recruit, and these forms are now arriving at the depot. Next weak commences the task of sending out the uniforms. Each man also gets an overcoat, a felt hat, and a forage cap. Every branch of the service will wear putties instead of leggings. The uniforms in hand at present fill multitudes of shelves—indeed, the place wears the appearance of a busy warehouse. Every article of clothing is the product of New Zealand mills. There is a absolute uniformity of colour, so that the whole New Zealand defence force, from the North Cape to the Bluff, will on mobilisation, present no spectacle of detached units, but one uniform whole. Distinguishing colour badges and trouser stripes will mark the branches of the service, green denoting the mounted, men, and red the infantry. The senior cadets will have neat blouses and long trousers. So far the uniforms in stock comprise only a small portion of what yet remains to be handled. A new brick building is in the later stages of completion for their safer storage. The felt hats are the product of the National Hat Mills, Wellington, and are really a very excellent article. Many large packing cases are stacked in the yards waiting to be dispatched with these goods to the territorial centres.
But this is only one branch of the industry. In other sheds are stacked camp paraphernalia, tents, marching outfits of the latest pattern, containing, in addition to bayonet, water-bottle, overcoat, etc., a handy trenching tool, bandoliers, field outfits, including telephones and heliographs; much leather goods; service boots, which the department is selling, at option, to the men at a low fee, and many other requisites. Outside in the yard is a new pontoon bridge, lately come to hand, a rather bulky apparatus that has not yet been used. Elsewhere are stored transit water tanks, a sample transport waggon (from which others will be manufactured in the Dominion). Necessary appliances for the eighteen-pounder guns have also been coming to hand, though the guns themselves have not yet arrived.
In other sheds are many large black cases. These contain the service rifles. It is not permitted that the public should know what stock of these is kept. It is a state secret that not even an Opposition order for a “return” could cause to be divulged. Recently, however, ten thousand were added to the stock. Just at present workmen are spending busy hours cleaning up and inspecting the rifles that have been received from the old volunteer corps. Every Government arm in the Dominion has been called in, and as a result every, man will have issued to him a nice clean rifle. It will be a new start over the whole Dominion. It would grieve the heart of the military enthusiast to see the condition in which some of the rifles have been sent In. There is undoubtedly great need for the new quartermasters in the various regiments, to see that this sort of thing does not recur. Some of the Wellington corps have been rather bad offenders. The comparatively slow process of cleaning these arms has been the cause of the delay in their reissue. Every rifle has 104 parts, and these parts are stocked in large quantities.
Of the Dominion’s ammunition store, also, the outsider can know nothing. This much, however, is for public information, that every Saturday morning the Director of the Defence Stores produces his ammunition balance book, to the Commandant, who then known from glancing over the pages exactly how every packet has been distributed and how each part of the Dominion is served.
The Buckle Street stores do not yet present the aspect of a Woolwich Arsenal, but things are very busy there; the will of the people is being given effect to at as rapid a rate as opportunity will permit; evidences are offered of the effective defence scheme now in active operation; and pleasing, indeed, is the outstanding fact that local industries are benefiting to an enormous degree from a new departure in defence that after all, is an admitted necessity.
Arms and Uniforms,” New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7978, 8 December 1911
Former Defence Stores Compound, Buckle Street, Wellington The building on the right of the photo is the original 1911 Defence Stores building. The building on the left is the 1916 extension.
Former Defence Stores Compound, Buckle Street, Wellington.
Former Defence Stores Compound, Buckle Street, Wellington The building on the right of photo is the original 1911 Defence Stores building. The building on the left is the 1916 extension.
Notes
[1] Peter Cooke and John Crawford, The Territorials (Wellington: Random House New Zealand Ltd, 2011), 153.
[2] I. C. McGibbon and Paul William Goldstone, The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Military History (Auckland; Melbourne; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000, 2000), Bibliographies, Non-fiction, 109-10.
[3] “Arms and Uniforms,” New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7978, 8 December 1911.
A long-forgotten member of the British Commonwealth Ordnance Corps fraternity is the Rhodesia and Nyasaland Army Service Corps.
The army of the Short-lived Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (1953-1963), unlike other commonwealth armies, was not large enough to maintain separate Army Service Corps, Ordnance Corps and Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. However, in a move repeated in Canada in 1968, the United Kingdom (less REME) in 1993 and New Zealand in 1996, the Rhodesia and Nyasaland Army combined their Logistical function into a single branch known as the Rhodesia and Nyasaland Army Services Corps.
Providing logistical support to the Federal Army, the Rhodesia and Nyasaland Army Services Corps was divided into three branches.
The Ordnance & Supply Branch – Tasked with the provisioning of all army arms, supplies, and equipment. 150 soldiers strong.
The Workshop Branch – Artificers and mechanics responsible for the good maintenance of vehicles, firearms, and other equipment deployed by the Federal Army. The branch was 270 men strong.
The Supply & Transport Branch – Comprised of one Askari Platoon, two coloured Afro-Asian Platoons, and one Eurasian platoon, the Supply & Transport Branch was tasked in delivering the supplies set aside by the Ordnance & Supply Branch to troops in the field. The total size was 180 men.
The badge of the Rhodesia and Nyasaland Army Services Corps drew on the traditions and hereditary of the British army, combining elements of the badges of the Royal Army Service Corps (Star), Royal Army Ordnance Corps (the Ordnance Crest) and Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (Horses forcené).
Badge of the Rhodesia and Nyasaland Army Services Corps. Robert McKie collection
The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland officially ended on 31 December 1963. Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland became independent under the names Zambia and Malawi, with Southern Rhodesia declaring unilateral independence from the United Kingdom as the state of Rhodesia in 1965.
As a result of service during the First World War, twelve Warrant Officers, Norn-Commissioned Officers and Men of the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps (NZAOC) were awarded the Meritorious Service Medal.
The Meritorious Service Medal was initially instituted by British Royal Warrant on 28 April 1898 as an award for Warrant Officers and Senior Non-Commissioned Officers. Nearly all recipients of this medal have been of the rank of Sergeant or above. However, in the early 20th Century, some awards were made to lower ranks.
In the London Gazette of 9 December 1919, it was announced that His Majesty the King was graciously pleased to approve the awarding of the Meritorious Service Medal (MSM) to fifty-six Warrant Officers, Norn-Commissioned Officers and Men of the New Zealand Forces, including two men of the NZAOC.
Conductor John Goutenoire O’Brien, and
Conductor Mark Leonard Hathaway
O’Brien’s service would be with the NZEF, serving at Gallipoli, France and the United Kingdom from 1916 until 1920. In contrast to O’Brien’s long service, Hathaway would only serve in Home Service for one year and 274 days, but with his conduct and character described as “Very Good”, he had been recognised for his contribution.
John Goutenoire O’Brien
John O’Brien left New Zealand with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) 6th Reinforcements on 14 August 1915. After service in the Dardanelles, O’Brien was transferred into the NZAOC in February 1916. Serving in France for two years, O’Brien was assigned to London Headquarters in March 1918 as the Chief Clerk. Staff Sergeant John O’Brien was Promoted to Temporary Warrant Officer Class 1 with the Appointment of Acting Sub-Conductor on the 18 October 1918. Gaining Substantive rank as a Warrant Officer Class 1 with Sub-Conductor appointment on 25 November 1918. O’Brien was appointed as a Conductor on 1 February 1919. O’Brien was awarded the MSM and was the senior Warrant Officer NZEF NZAOC when he was demobilised in March 1920. His final duties included indenting new equipment for two divisions and a Mounted brigade that would equip the New Zealand Army until the late 1930s.
After a short stint serving in the NZAOC in New Zealand, O’Brien would return to his pre-war trade of banker. Immigrating to the United States, O’Brien attended De Paul University Law School in Chicago from 1921 to 1924. In 1926 O’Brien took up the appointment of vice-president of the Commercial National Bank in Shreveport, Louisiana. During the Second World War, O’Brien, then a US Citizen, served in the United States Army Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel in the South-West Pacific Theatre of Operations.
Mark Leonard Hathaway
Little is known of Mark Leonard Hathaway’s early life. Born at St Pancras, Middlesex, England, on 31 August 1875, Hathaway married Ethel Ellen Davis in 1903. Census records show that Hathaway was still residing in England in 1911, migrating to New Zealand with his family prior to1915.
On the outbreak of World War One, Hathaway attempted to join the NZEF. However, he was rejected as unfit due to heart troubles. Hathaway then joined the Defence Department as a civilian clerk/typist in the Defence Stores on 5 February 1915. When the Defence Stores Department transitioned into the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps (NZAOC) in 1917, Hathaway was allotted the Regimental number of NZAOC 48 and appointed a Staff Quartermaster Sergeant. His NZAOC enlistment document states that he had no other previous military service.
Promoted to (Temporary) Conductor on 1 November 1918, Hathaway service file indicated that he was awarded the MSM in 1918. However, his award was not gazetted until 1919. Hathaway was released at his request on 31 March 1919. Working as an accountant, Hathaway passed away on 10 July 1928. Following his death, his wife made inquiries about eligibility to get a military pension and how to apply for a replacement MSM as her husband’s original medal had been lost.
Meritorious Service Medal (Obverse) awarded to 48 Conductor M.L Hathaway, NZAOC. Courtesy of the Trembath CollectionMeritorious Service Medal (Reverse) awarded to 48 Conductor M.L Hathaway, NZAOC. Courtesy of the Trembath Collection
This undated plan of the Mount Eden Goal Reserve provides a view of the layout of the long-forgotten Auckland Defence Stores Mount Eden location. Located between the Goal and Auckland Grammar School, this plane was drawn up sometime between 1907 and 1917
The Defence Stores footprint at Mount Eden started in 1871 when two magazines were constructed to house Defence ammunition, then stored at Albert Barracks in the centre of Auckland.
In 1903 the Defence Stores Office in O’Rourke Street (now Auckland University) was relocated to Mount Eden. Initially, the existing magazines at Mount Eden were thought to be sufficient. However, it was soon found that additional buildings were required, and a Stores building and Armourer’s shop were constructed during 1903/04. Eventually, a house was also built for Captain W.T Beck, the District Storekeeper.
In 1917 the Defence Stores were reorganised into the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps (NZAOC), with the Mount Eden Defence Stores becoming the Northern Districts Ordnance Depot.
By 1920, with little space available for expansion to allow the storage of the large number of mobilisation stores required by the Norther District, construction of an alternative site for the Mount Eden Ordnance Depot began at Hopuhopu in the Waikato.
While the Hopuhopu site was still under construction, Stores from the Mount Eden site began to be transferred to Hopuhopu in 1927. The new depot officially opened in 1929, with the Mount Eden Depot closing.
The Store constructed in 1903 was dismantled and re-erected at the Narrow neck Camp on Auckland’s North Shore. The fate of the original magazines is unknown, but they were likely taken over for a time by the nearby Colonial Ammunition Company (CAC).
The closure of the Mount Eden Depot did not totally sever to the connection between Mount Eden and the Ordnance Corps, with Ordnance Ammunition staff remaining attached to the CAC until 1967, testing the supply of Small Arms Ammunition provided by that factory.
It is said that a picture says a thousand words, and this postcard of the Takapau Divisional Camp of April-May 1914 is such a picture. While it tells part of the story of the neatly 4839 Territorials who attended the camp, it also provides an insight into the tremendous logistical effort by the Defence Stores Department to provide the stores and equipment required by the largest Territorial camp ever held in New Zealand.
Between April and May 1914, 18,882 Territorial Soldiers of New Zealand’s citizen army attended five main camps across New Zealand.
the Auckland Military Districts camp was at Hautapu, near Cambridge,
the Canterbury Military Districts camp was split between Kowai, near Springfield, with the Marlborough and Nelson units camping at Tapawera, near Nelson.
the Otago Military Districts Camp was at Matarae, in Central Otago
The Wellington Military Districts were held at Takapau in Hawkes Bay.
To oversee the management of the Camp Equipment and other Ordnance Stores required, the District Storekeepers of each Military District were appointed as Ordnance Officers for the duration of the camp and provided with a staff of eighteen Territorial Soldiers trained in the duties required of an Ordnance Depot.
The District Storekeepers were
Honorary Lieutenant William Thomas Beck, District Storekeeper, Auckland
Honorary Lieutenant Arthur Rumbold Carter White, District Storekeeper, Christchurch
Honorary Lieutenant Mr Owen Paul McGuigan, District Storekeeper, Dunedin
Mr Frank Edwin Ford District Storekeeper, Nelson
Honorary Major James O’Sullivan, Defence Storekeeper Wellington
Based on the numbers that attended the Takapau Camp and the Camp Equipment scale of 1913, the following quantities indicate the Camp Equipment required. Provided from the Defence Stores in Wellington, two trainloads were required to move the stores from Wellington to Takapau to pre-position before the camp.
Axes, felling, helved, 122
Axe. Pick, 160
Buckets, Water, 1937
Basins, Wash hand, 2023
Boilers with lid, 20 Gal, 100
Boilers with lid, 9 Gal, 100
Candlesticks, bayonet, 2023
Choppers, Meat, 100
Crowbars (if required) 190
Dishes, meat, 1711
Kettles, camp, 1543
Lantern s, stable, 348
Racks, arm, tent (Large loop), 1259
Spades, 274
Shovels, 274
Tents, circular, complete, 1773
Marquees, 65
Ropes, picket, 20 yards 115
Brooms, bass, 128
Sheets, ground, 8350
Rakes, iron 16in ,128
How much of this equipment was available in the District Storehouses is unknown. However, it is known that in 1914 the NZ Military had a sufficient stock of tents to accommodate the whole Territorial Force at the full establishment, including
3651 tents (circular)
181 marquees,
30 operating tents, and
98 bivouac tents
The concept of the Camp Ordnance Depots was that as the unit advance parties arrived, the required number of camp equipment stores were issued from the Ordnance Depot to the unit Quartermaster Staff, usually under the control of the Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant.
On completing the camp, the RQMS was required to return all the stores to the Ordnance depot and remain available to finalise any accounts for losses and damages. Following the closedown of the camp, the stores were then loaded onto trains and returned to the District Stores, ready for the next activity.
The Ordnance Depots also held a stock of clothing and equipment available as replacements or for sale. For example, the Takapau Camp Ordnance Depot sold 1000 boots and 250 blankets.
The Divisional Camps of 1914 were only the second time Ordnance Depots had been established at annual camps and proved successful. There is no doubt that they would have stood up again for the planned camps in 1915. However, the logistical framework of the 1914 Divisional Camps served as a dress rehearsal for the August 1914 mobilisation and contributed to the raising and dispatching overseas of the largest, best trained and equipped force to be dispatched from this country in the 20th century.
Throughout the early 1860s, elements from the Militia and Volunteers supported the Imperial troops undertaking the bulk of the military operations in the early years of the New Zealand Wars. In 1861 as George Grey assumed the role of Governor for a second term, Grey undertook a policy of conciliation while also preparing for war. As General Cameron built up his Imperial forces, Gray reviewed and overhauled the citizen forces of New Zealand. In January 1862, new regulations for the volunteer force were issued, followed on 18 September by the Colonial Defence Act of 1862. This Act saw the formation of the Colonial Defence Force, the first regular Force in New Zealand. Under the Quartermaster General of the Colonial Defence Force, Captain Robert Collins, the Colonial Store Department and the Militia Store Department assumed the store’s responsibility for the Militia, Volunteer and Regular Forces of New Zealand.
In Auckland, the Colonial Store Department and the Militia Store Department initially operated out of offices on Princes Street. However, approval was granted in October 1863 for the erection of a store adjacent to the Imperial Armoury near the Symonds street entrance to the Albert Barracks.[1] The two Store Departments essentially carried out the same functions, and in 1865 the post of Superintended of Militia Stores held by Mr E.D King was disestablished with the responsibility for colonial defence stores centralised under the Colonial Storekeeper, Captain John Mitchell.
Military Store Albert Barracks 1871
A review of colonial defence with a reliance on local forces taking over from Imperial Forces saw the passing of the Armed Constabulary Act of 10 October 1867. This Act combined police and military functions into the regular Armed Constabulary (AC) Force. The AC Force was supported by Maori loyal to the crown, Militia and Volunteer units, with Defence Storekeepers in Auckland, Whanganui and Wellington providing the required logistic support.[2]
In April 1869, Lieutenant Colonel Edward Gorton was appointed as the Inspector of Defence Stores, establishing his office at Molesworth Street in Wellington, bringing all New Zealand’s Defence storekeepers under his control. By January 1869, as the withdrawal of Imperial units became imminent, the dismantling of their central logistic hub at Auckland’s Fort Britomart and Albert Barracks had commenced, with military stores, including guns and ammunition that were not auctioned off to the public or purchased by the New Zealand Government, shipped to the United Kingdom. The departure of the British Military Storekeeper Joseph Osbertus Hamley in July 1870 marked the final withdrawal of Imperial Forces from New Zealand, with the Auckland Defence Store taking over ownership of the Armoury and Magazines located in Albert Barracks.
In May 1869, Captain John Mitchell was suspended as the Auckland Storekeeper due to unauthorised absences. Resigning in July, Major William St Clair Tisdall replaced Mitchell as acting Storekeeper. A small staff assisted Tisdall, some of whom had served in the stores since 1861, including
John Blomfield, Clerk
John Price, Clerk
David Evitt, Armourer Sergeant
Arms Cleaners
Mr’s F Gibbons,
J Penligan and
C.C Rockley
Following the departure of Imperial units, the future of Albert Barracks came under debate. In addition to the Defence Stores, the only other military use of the former barracks was by the local Militia and Volunteers, who retained a drill hall and utilised the parade round. The Auckland Improvement (Albert Barrack Reserves) Act of 1872 repealed previous Acts relating to the status of Albert Barracks and placed responsibility for the management and disposal of the land under the Auckland Improvement Commissioners.[3] The Auckland Improvement Commissioners drew up and oversaw plans to develop the bulk of the Barracks into a recreational reserve, with other areas subdivided into roads and plots of land for further development.
By 1871 the growth of Auckland now placed the ageing powder magazine in the centre of a built-up area, raising concerns about its safety. New powder magazines were constructed at Mount Eden, with the first stocks transferred from Albert Park to Mount Eden in September, following which the Albert Barracks magazines were demolished.[4] With the Auckland district’s supply of ammunition now safely stored at Mount Eden under the care of the Defence Stores magazine keeper, Tisdall and the remaining staff of Storemen and Armourers remained at Albert Barracks.[5] Initially located in the old Imperial Armoury building at the Symonds Street entrance of Albert Barracks, it was considered an obstruction to the Commissioner’s projected improvements.[6] To allow the extension of Princes Street and subdivision of the land between Princes and Symonds Street, in July 1873, the Defence Stores had been moved into the well-constructed stone building that had previously been the Barracks hospital.[7] The new building included ample accommodation for warlike stores, including small workshops and a forge.[8] The only remnant of the site of the old Armoury were two Russian 18-pounder guns taken at the Crimea and presented by the Imperial Government to the colony of New Zealand in the late 1850s.[9]
The Defence Stores building in Albert Park was described by the Auckland Star as the “hideous eyesore in Albert Park’ and considered a blight on the skyline as it obstructed the view from the park that had been established to replace the Barracks.[10] By 1883 an agreement was reached between the Auckland Council and the Government, with a plot of land in O’Rourke Street provided to allow the relocation of the Defence Stores.[11]
Queen St with Albert Barracks on the left hillside C1870-1979. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 898-9969
When the proposal was first mooted to relocate the Defence Store, plans were prepared in the Auckland Public Works office for a three-storied building equal in space to the present location. However, as it intended to centralise the operations of the Defence Stores in Wellington, the original design was countermanded with a design for a smaller building substituted. Tenders for the erection of the new Defence Stores building were published on 10 May 1883 for a building meeting the following specifications,
to be constructed of brick, two storeys in height, with a concrete foundation,
to have a frontage of 25 feet with a depth of 36 feet.
the ground floor was to have
a passage seven feet wide,
two 18×18 apartments,
a staircase leading from the ground floor to the upper storey
The upper floor subdivided into
An 18×8 office, compartment with lift,
a 14 x18 room
an 11 x 18 room
To the rear of the building
a 14×25 shed with an asphalted floor for gun carriages
a 6×14 coal shed,
a 14×20 Armourer’s shop.
Due to the considerable amount of material accumulated in the old Defence Stores over its many years of operation, Captain Sam Anderson, the Chief Defence Storekeeper, assisted in a stocktake of the old store as it was decommissioned, ensuring only essential materials were transferred to the new building. Surplus stores were disposed of by tender or redistributed, including over 2000 obsolete muzzle-loading muskets relocated to the Defence Store in Wellington.[12] The old Stores building was soon demolished with much of the material used in the construction of the new building, with the only reminder of the military’s residence of Albert Park being a small portion of the Barracks wall and a few old cannons on display in the new ornamental gardens.
The New Defence Store in O’Rourke Street was one of the earliest purpose-built Storehouses built for New Zealand’s Military. Up to this period, many of the buildings utilised by the Defence Stores were inherited from the Imperial Forces or requisitioned commercial premises.
By 1888, the cost of maintaining a peacetime military had reached the point where cutbacks and savings across the Defence budget had to be made. As part of several reductions across the Defence Department, the Auckland Defence Store was drastically downsized, resulting in the retirement or redundancy of most of the staff. The closure of the Auckland Defence Stores was met with dismay, with the press questioning it as an absurd decision, with the New Zealand Herald noting in an editorial that the closure of the Auckland Defence Store was” solely arising from the Wellington authorities having want of local knowledge and of the requirements of the place.” This pushback on the closure of the Auckland Defence Store resulted in a short reprieve for James Bloomfield, the Defence Storekeeper in Auckland, who had served since 1861, was granted a reprieve from redundancy and allowed to extend his tenure, retiring in December 1888, handing over the responsibilities of Defence Storekeeper for Auckland to Major John William Gascoyne of the New Zealand Permanent Militia.[13] Following Gascoyne’s departure in 1891, the responsibilities of Auckland Defence Storekeeper were assumed by the Adjutant of the Auckland Brigade Office, who oversaw the duties of the Magazine Keeper at Mount Eden, Mr J Hawthorn.[14]
Concurrent with the Adjutant taking over the Defence Storekeepers’ responsibilities, the Auckland Brigade Office was moved from its offices in the Auckland Supreme Court into the Defence Store O’Rourke Street building, from where the Adjutant conducted his duties related to the Auckland Volunteers and the Defence Stores.[15] This shared arrangement remained in place into the early years of the twentieth century and even saw a telephone installed in 1902.
Routine activities conducted by the Auckland Defence Stores in O’Rourke Street included various tenders to provide uniforms and repair equipment. Following the bloodless Dog Tax War of 1898, the Defence Store in O’Rourke street took custody of the surrendered arms, including [16]
one Winchester repeating rifle
one Winchester carbine
two Green’s American patent Snider breech-loading rifles
one Snider rifle
one muzzle-loading carbine
one Lee Bolt shotgun, single barrel
three breech-loading single-barrel guns.
three double-barrel breech loaders (nearly new)
ten double-barrel muzzle-loading guns
two single-barrel guns
four bundles of ammunition (various)
In 1903 the Police expressed an interest in taking over the building as accommodation for the Auckland Police Commissioner. Following an inspection by the Defence Storekeeper, Mr James O’Sullivan, arrangements were made to transfer the Defence Stores from the O’Rourke Street Property to Mount Eden and hand the building over to the Police.[17] In 1904, the Defence Stores building handover to the Police was concluded, ending the sixty-year relationship between Auckland’s Albert Park and the Military.
The Police fully refurbished the former Defence Store Building into a residential villa. The building survived into the 1960s when it was demolished to allow the construction of Auckland University.
1905 view of the refurbished Defence Store building(Center of the photo next to Police Station)
Despite the construction of new buildings for the Defence Stores in Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin during the early 1900s, no new permanent buildings were constructed for the Auckland Defence Stores as the existing powder magazines at Mount Eden, constructed in 1871, were deemed sufficient to meet current and projected needs. Following the transition of the Defence Stores into the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps in 1917, a new Ordnance Depot was constructed for the Northern Region to replace the infrastructure at Mount Eden in the late 1920s. However, it was not in Auckland but at Hopuhopu in the Waikato. Temporary Ordnance Stores were established in Auckland during World War Two, utilising rented commercial premises. In the post-war era, ordnance warehouses established at Syliva Park utilised buildings constructed for the United States Forces. Besides Explosive Store Houses at Ardmore, no permanent dedicated storage infrastructure was ever constructed for the RNZAOC in Auckland.
The significance of the Defence Store building in O’Rourke Street is that, excluding smaller unit storehouses and ammunition storehouses, it remains the only purpose-built military warehouse constructed for the New Zealand Army in Auckland.
Notes
[1] Queen’s Redoubt Assistant Military Secretary, “Correspondence Stating That There Is No Objection to the Erection of a Store for Colonial Purposes Adjoining Armoury Albert Barracks,” Archives New Zealand Item No R24075932 (1863).
[2] M. R. Wicksteed, The New Zealand Army: A History from the 1840s to the 1980s ([Ministry of Defence, 1982), Non-fiction, 2-3.
[3] Under the provisions of the Public Domains Act 1860, the Auckland Military Reserves Act 1871 established the land that Albert Barracks occupied as Crown land.
[4] “New Power Magazine at Mount Eden,” New Zealand Herald, Volume VIII, Issue 2377, 7 September 1871.
[5] The Magazine Keeper was Mr J Broughton; Tindall’s other staff consisted of his Clerk Mr J Blomfield. Armourer Mr D Evitt and Three Arms Cleaners Mr’s F Gibbons, J Penligan and C.C Rockley. “D-13 Nominal Roll of the Civil Establishment of New Zealand on the 1st July 1872,” Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives (1872); “Nominal Return of Officer in Defence Department and Armed Constabulary Force on 1 July 1872,” Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1873 Session I, H-24a (1872).
[6] “Deputation from the Auckland Improvement Commissioners,” New Zealand Herald, Volume X, Issue 2859, 28 March 1873.
[7] “Militia Store Move,” Auckland Star, Volume IV, Issue 1087, 17 July 1873.
[8] “Wooden Building in Albert Barracks,” New Zealand Herald, Volume X, Issue 09, 30 September 1873.
[9] “Russian Guns,” New Zealand Herald, Volume XI, Issue 3927, 13 June 1874.
[10] “Albert Park Armoury,” Auckland Star, Volume XII, Issue 3523, 22 November 1881.
[11] Linking Princes and Symonds Streets, O’Rourke Street is now occupied by Auckland University, Captain Anderson, “Old Defence Store to Be Sold by Tender, All the Muzzle Loading Rifles to Be Sent by “Hinemoa”,” Archives New Zealand Item No R24280543 (1883).
[16] “The Maori Trouble,” Auckland Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 114, 16 May 1898.
[17] Wellington Defence Storekeeper, ” Subject: Report of Inspection of Defence Stores Auckland. Again Urges Removal of Store from O’Rourke [O’rorke] Street to Mount Eden Cost to Be Met by Police Department ” Archives New Zealand Item No R24743403 (1903).
At approximately 2135 hours on 5 December 1941, an Italian bomber launched a torpedo sinking the SS Chakdina, a vessel evacuating 380 wounded men, including ninety-seven New Zealanders from Tobruk. Included in the list of New Zealanders lost that fateful evening was Major William Andrew Knox, the Officer Commanding of the New Zealand Divisional Ordnance Field Park.
William Andrew Knox was the second of three sons born to William and Jessie Knox in Auckland on 14 November 1893.
Portrait of Major William Andrew Knox, Auckland Weekly News, 21 January 1942. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19420121-29-1. Image has no known copyright restrictions.
From 20 March 1911, Knox undertook his Compulsory Military service obligation, serving with “A” Battery of the New Zealand Field Artillery (NZFA) until his enlistment into the NZEF on 13 August 1914. Embarking on the Main Body of the NZEF on 15 October 1914, Knox served at Gallipoli, where he was slightly injured. Continuing to serve in the NZFA for the duration of the war, Knox attained the rank of Lieutenant on 16 October 1916 and was Mentioned in Dispatches. Struck off the Strength of the NZEF on22 May 1919, Knox was transferred to the Reserve of officers but did not undertake any further military training until 1939. Knox’s brother Trevor served within the NZ Rifle Brigade during this conflict and passed away due to disease on 9 July 1918.
Working as a commercial traveller during the interbellum, Knox applied and was accepted for the Special Force assembled in 1939. Posted as a troop Subaltern in the 5th Field Regiment and despite being a fit and able 46-year-old, unlike most younger officers who had remained current through Territorial service, Knox struggled to learn and adapt to the more modern weapons and gunnery practices. Unable to cope, Knox applied to be released from the Special Force and be reassigned to an administrative role.
As the Special Force was in the early stage of its training Knox was released on 6 December 1939 and was reassigned to the 7th Anti-Tank Regiment as the Quartermaster departing from New Zealand to the Middle East as part of the Second Echelon. Diverted to Britain to strengthen the invasion defences, Knox and the 7th Anti-Tank Regiment did not reach Egypt until February 1941.
Following the Greek Campaign, the New Zealand Division was concentrated together in Egypt, undertaking rebuilding and expansion. As part of the expansion of the Division was the inclusion of an Ordnance Field Park (OFP), which was formally stood up 28 July 1941. The New Zealand OFP had a strength of 4 Officers and 81 Other Ranks. Organised into a Headquarters and three sections, the NZ OFP was equipped with twenty-seven 3-ton Lorries in different configurations optimised for the carriage of OFP Stores. On 4 August 1941 Knox was transferred into the New Zealand Ordnance Corps (NZOC) as the Officer Commanding of the NZ OFP and granted the rank of Temporary Major whilst holding that appointment.
An OFP was a mobile mini Ordnance Depot with its stock held on vehicles (on wheels) consisting of;
Assemblies and spare parts of “A” and “B” vehicles and equipment’s required by mobile workshops for repair purposes, and
Advanced holdings of certain “A” and “B” vehicles for replacement purposes
An OFP’s holdings constituted a forward portion of the stocks of the Base Ordnance Depot.
The NZ OFP war diary for August and September records that those months were spent receiving intakes of scalings from various Base Ordnance Depots and receiving personnel and vehicles.
On 7 October, the NZ OFP deployed from the comfort of Maadi Camp into a new position in the location in the vicinity of Bagush. The NZ OFP undertook routine duties interspaced with rifle and Bren gun training periods for the remainder of October.
During November 1941, the NZ OFP operated in support of the NZ Division during Operation Crusader. Operation Crusade was a significant allied operation to destroy Axis armoured forces in the Cyrenaica region of Libya and lift the siege of Tobruk.
Attached to the NZ Div Workshops as part of the admin group under the NZ Div CRASC, Operation Crusader was a harsh introduction to the realities of mobile logistics in the harsh terrain and climate of the Western Desert.
NZ OFP on the move. Noel Kreggher Collection
Throughout November, the NZ OFP was on the move every couple of days, and after a final push of seven days of hard desert travel, entered the outer defences of Tobruk at 0730 on 29 November 1941. Under enemy shell fire for two days, Knox placed the NZ OPF into dispersal locations and confirmed with 70 Div HQ the final placement of the NZ OFP. At about 0930, while conducting a recce of the final dispersal area, Knox’s vehicle ran over a mine. The vehicle was a complete wreck with Knox injured in the leg and immediately evacuated to Casualty Clearing Station and then to 62 General Hospital. At about 1430, the NZ OFP moved to a new location in a derelict vehicle park on the edge of Tobruk township. The NZ OFP remained in Tobruk until 7 December, when it redeployed back to Baghish.
On 5 December 1941, alongside 380 wounded allied soldiers, of whom ninety-seven were New Zealanders, 100 German and Italian Prisoners of War and 120 crew, Knox was evacuated on the SS Chakdina. Unfortunately, several hours after clearing Tobruk, the SS Chakdina was attacked by an Italian S.79 torpedo bomber. A torpedo hit the SS Chakdina, exploding in one of the after holds sinking the vessel in three and a half minutes. Around 400 men were drowned, with only eighteen of the ninety-seven New Zealanders were rescued, with the remainder, including Knox, presumed drowned.
Lost at sea, Knox has no known grave and is commemorated at the Alamein Memorial in Egypt. Listed as a member of the New Zealand Artillery until 2019, he has been recognised as a member of the New Zealand Ordnance Corps by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
For his cumulative WW1 military service, Knox was awarded the following medals.
In the Christian tradition, a patron saint is considered a heavenly advocate for groups of the faithful, including families, parishes, regions, and countries.
The tradition of patron saints dates back to the Roman Empire and the construction of the first public churches. Many of these churches were built over the graves of martyrs and named after them, believing that the martyrs would advocate for the Christians worshipping there.
By the Middle Ages, organisations began adopting patron saints to seek heavenly protection for their interests and the health of their members.
Following the Royal Army Ordnance Corps tradition, Saint Barbara was adopted as the Patron Saint of the RNZAOC. Saint Barbara’s Day is commemorated on December 4th.
The Legend of Saint Barbara
Saint Barbara lived during the reign of Roman Emperor Maximian (305-311). She was from Heliopolis in the Roman province of Phoenice, now Baalbek in modern Lebanon. At this time, the Roman Empire was transitioning from paganism to Christianity. Barbara came from a wealthy merchant family that followed Roman polytheism. Her father, Dioscorus, a rich and well-known merchant, devoted himself to his only daughter after the death of his wife.
Barbara was exceptionally beautiful and intelligent. Her father, determined to protect her from the outside world, imprisoned her in a tower, allowing her contact only with teachers and servants who instructed her in pagan worship. From the tower, Barbara had a picturesque view of wooded hills, rivers, and fields of colourful flowers. This view led her to question the creation of such a beautiful world. Over time, she became convinced that the idols she had been taught to worship were merely human creations and could not have made the world around her.
As Barbara reached adulthood, Dioscorus began seeking suitors for her, but she refused them all, warning him that his insistence on marriage could damage their relationship. Sensing conflict in his daughter, Dioscorus allowed her some freedom, hoping it would change her attitude. Barbara used this opportunity to meet new people and soon encountered followers of Christianity. She learned about Jesus, the Holy Trinity, and the Christian Church and was eventually baptized by a priest from Alexandria disguised as a merchant to avoid detection.
Dioscorus, still unaware of Barbara’s conversion, left on a business trip, instructing her that a private bathhouse should be built for her. Originally designed with two windows, Barbara, inspired by her new faith, added a third window to represent the Holy Trinity. The bathhouse became a place of healing, where many miracles occurred. The 10th-century scholar St. Simeon Metaphrastes compared it to the Jordan River.
Upon his return, Dioscorus was furious to find the bathhouse altered and to learn that Barbara had rejected paganism and been baptised as a Christian. Enraged and feeling shamed, he attempted to strike Barbara with his sword. Barbara fled to the hills with her father in pursuit. According to legend, a hill opened up and hid Barbara within a crevice, blocking her father’s way.
Dioscorus, unable to find his daughter, sought help from two local shepherds. The first denied any knowledge of Barbara’s whereabouts, but the second, tempted by the promise of a reward, betrayed her location. As punishment for his betrayal, legend says he was turned to stone, and his flock was turned into locusts.
The Torture of Saint Barbara
Upon finding his daughter, Dioscorus locked her up, starving and beating her. Being a Christian was a crime at the time, so he had little choice but to hand Barbara over to the city prefect, Martianus. With Dioscorus’ cooperation, Martianus continued the beatings and torture. Refusing to renounce her Christian faith, Barbara prayed to Jesus. Miraculously, her wounds were healed each night despite the beatings during the day.
Infuriated by this, Martianus devised new tortures to persuade her to renounce her faith. However, Barbara drew strength from her prayers and remained steadfast. These tortures were carried out in public, where a virtuous Christian woman named Juliana took pity on Barbara. Inspired by Barbara’s voluntary martyrdom on behalf of all Christians, Juliana denounced the torturers loudly, leading to her seizure and torture alongside Barbara.
The Execution of Saint Barabra
Both women were repeatedly tortured, their bodies raked and wounded with hooks. They were stripped naked and paraded through the city, where they were met with derision and jeers. Despite this, Barbara continued to pray. According to legend, an angel appeared, covering their nakedness with a splendid robe and extinguishing the torches meant to burn them.
Frustrated by the lack of progress with the torture, Martianus ordered their execution. On the 4th of December, Barbara and Juliana were beheaded, with Dioscorus delivering the final blow to his daughter. A fellow Christian, Valentinus, buried Barbara, and her tomb became the site of many miracles. Shortly after the execution, both Dioscorus and Martianus were struck down and killed by lightning, an event seen by many as God’s retribution for their actions.
Patronage
Barbara appears to have been canonised by the seventh century, with her story introduced to Britain during the Crusades.
Her association with the lightning that killed her father linked her to lightning and fire. As Christianity became firmly established, Saint Barbara was invoked as a protectress against the perils of lightning. With the introduction of gunpowder in the Western world, she became the patroness of artillerymen. Over time, her patronage extended to those in danger of sudden death, including firefighters, sailors, armourers, military engineers, gunsmiths, tunnellers, miners, and warehouse workers.
Given the Royal Army Ordnance Corps’ connection to explosives and artillery, Saint Barbara was adopted as the Patron Saint of the RAOC. This tradition was carried over to many Commonwealth Ordnance Corps, including the RNZAOC.
A New Zealand Ordnance Connection to Saint Barbara
Surprisingly, there is a connection between the New Zealand Ordnance Corps and Saint Barbara. During the Second World War, C Section of the New Zealand Divisional Ordnance Field Park and the NZ Advanced Ordnance Depot were briefly deployed near Baalbek in modern-day Lebanon, the place attributed to Saint Barbara’s life.
