Inspecting Ordnance Officer and Acting Inspector of Ordnance Machinery
Captain William Ivory, RNZA.
Proof Officer, Small Arms Ammunition
Captain E.H Sawle.
NZAOC appropriations year ending 31 March 1922
Ordnance Activities July 1921 – June 22
The handing-over of the military hospitals to the Health Department, the closing of the Ordnance Depot at Dunedin, the merging of the Palmerston North Depot with the Main Ordnance Depot at Trentham, and the disposal of large stocks of surplus and obsolete stores made a considerable reduction in the NZAOC, the financial situation necessitated a far larger reduction than was warranted by the above economies. In addition to the routine duties connected with the stores, equipment, and clothing for the Territorial Force and Senior Cadets and the management of mobilization equipment, the NZAOC was also dealing with;
the examination of stores received from the United Kingdom,
the marking and issuing of new guns, stores, and rifles,
the disposal of surplus stores, and
the pricing of all issues and receipts in accordance with the implementation of a new system of cost accounting.
It was recognised that once these extra duties had been completed, and when proper accommodation was provided at each command depot, it would be possible to make a further reduction in personnel, but it was considered at the time that any reduction would lead to neglect and a consequent depreciation of stores. Against the possibility of reduction, it was recognised that the present system of stores audit would almost certainly necessitate an increase in the clerical stall.[8]
In 1919, the NZAOC 532, and by March 1922 had been reduced to 100. The civil staff of the NZAOC .which stood at 520 in 1919, had been reduced to 95. [9] On 4 May 1922, a further 25 N.C.O.’s and men of the NZAOC received notice of their dismissal.
Ordnance Depots
With Ordnance Depots established at Burnham for the Southern Command, and at Trentham for the Central Command. The site for the Northern Command Depot at Ngaruawahia had been obtained with the exchange with the Railway Department for land at Frankton Junction. [10]The mobilization stores for the Northern Command were held at Trentham and Featherston so it became a priority to incur some expenditure for the erection of buildings at Ngaruawahia. Plans were also on the table for the provision of suitable fireproof buildings to replace the present temporary accommodation at Trentham and Burnham. At Trentham all available buildings, including the gymnasium used by the School of Instruction, were utilised for storage; many of the older hutments were not suitable for storing the very valuable, equipment on charge, and the risk of fire is a very grave one.
Disposal Depots
The Ordnance Depot in each command was to hold the stores and equipment required by the Territorial units in that command; additionally, Trentham will hold, the general reserve of stores and equipment. All stores surplus to mobilization requirements were in the process of being disposed of. Disposal-depots were continued in the four centres, after which a series of country sales were held in various towns. Owing to reduced staff it was eventually found necessary to restrict activities to a central depot in Wellington, which commenced operation on February 1922. The Wellington Disposal Depot conducted over the counter sales which were restricted to one day weekly, with postal orders being dealt with on other days. The total sales of clothing and miscellaneous stores during the period 1st April 1921 to 31st March 1922, amounted to £177,346.[11]
Discipline
Civil Court
The Magistrates Court hear a case on 24 November 1921 resulting from the theft of items from Trentham Camp. Civilian labourer Phillip Frederick Deihert pleaded guilty to the theft of Military stores a portion of which included; two tents, an anvil, a forge and eight military overcoats. Deihert was committed to the Supreme Court for sentencing at a later date.[12]
Corporal John Wilson Robertson, Head packer in the Receipt and Issue store, was also charged with the theft of one of the tents, but the case against him was dismissed, as the evidence that he was knowingly involved was not sufficient to warrant prosecution.[13] Despite the dismissal of the case against Robertson, his character and suitability for further employment in the NZAOC was under question and he was demobilised as part of the compulsory reductions that the NZAOC was forced to carry out. [14]
Personnel Movements -July 1921 to June 1922
Releases
Private Charles Edward Barry
Private Daniel Clarke
Private Joseph Graydon Crawford
Private Clarke Daniel
Private James Nathaniel Grindrod
Private John Edward Hedderwick
Private Arthur Hollings
Private James King
Private Hector Finch McKay
Private John Miller Miller
Private Hugh Lawton Owen
Private William Perigan Potter
Private Albert George Richardson
Private Alfred Searle
Private Henry Steele
Private Richard Teehan
Private William Thornton
Private Edwin Percy Chappel
Corporal John Wilson Robertson
Staff Sergeant Bernard Terence Leydon
Staff Quartermaster Sergeant William James Frost
Staff Quartermaster Sergeant Thomas Reid Inch
Sergeant Major Artificer James Edward Nesbitt
Staff Quartermaster-Sergeant W.J.F Ross
[1] “H-19 Defence Forces of New Zealand, Annual Report of the General Officer Commanding the Forces from 1 July 1921 to 30 June 1922,” Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives (1922): 2.
[2] 1 April 1922 Relinquished the rank of lieutenant and appointed rank of Conductor, WO Class with the honorary rank of Lieutenant. 1 “Appointments, Promotions, Resignations Amd Transfers,” new Zealand Gazette 29 (1922): 1046.
[4] Captain F. E. Ford, who was in command of the Ordnance section attached to the Central Command in Palmerston North, proceeded to Featherston Military Camp on the 1st of December to take charge of the Featherston Ordnance Depot. “Untitled – Ford,” Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 386, 2 December 1921.
[6] Posted to the retired list 15 October 1922 “Appointments, Promotions, Resignations and Transfer of Officers of the New Zealand Military Forces,” New Zealand Gazette 71 (1922): 2667.
Honorary Lieutenant Frederick W. Kibblewhite, NZAOD.[10]
Honorary Lieutenant William E. Luckman, NZAOD.[11]
NZAOC appropriations year ending 31 March 1921
Ordnance Activities July 20 – June 21
During this period the NZAOC had been considerably reduced but was still considered in excess of the strength required for its normal peace duties which consisted of the accounting, storage, issue, receipt, and care of all Ordnance stores for the N.Z. Military Forces. The following are some of the principal activities in excess of ordinary routine duties which the NZAOC had been engaged in during the 1920/21 period which had mitigated against further retrenchment being carried out;[12]
Receipt, accounting, and storage of large supplies of military equipment from the United Kingdom,
Ordnance issues and accounting in connection with military hospitals and sanatoria,
Sale of surplus stores
Marking of new rifles and equipment and reissuing to Territorial Force and Cadets. Nearly all of the new military equipment had arrived, and distributed as under;
Training equipment to units,
Mobilization equipment to depots in each command,
Reserve equipment at the main Ordnance depot.
The retention of military hospitals and sanatoria under the Defence Department entailed a considerable amount of work for the NZAOC, and until these institutions were handed over to the Department which was ultimately to be entirely responsible for the after-care of disabled soldiers the NZAOC could not be further reduced in number without impairing its efficiency.[13]
From the 20th of November 1920 NZAOC personnel employed in the maintenance sections at Trentham and Featherston Camps, were reorganised by transferring those that were required to the works section, New Zealand Engineers, The surplus personnel were demobilised.
Losses
The Auditor-General reported on the 4th of September that the NZAOC had been unable to allocate responsibility for losses of certain stores, clothing and equipment in military districts, and the following sums have been written off:[22]
Wellington Military District, £14,787
Auckland Military District, £9006
Canterbury Military District, £2532
The loss of stores and clothing to the value of £274 at the Trentham and Featherston military camps is attributed to the disorganisation brought about by the influenza epidemic.
Stores Credits
The NZAOC credits for the year ended 30th June 1921, for the sale of stores amounted to approximately £70,000.[23]
Inspecting Ordnance Officer and Acting Inspector of Ordnance Machinery
On 1 May 1921 Captain William Ivory, RNZA was appointed Inspection Ordnance Officer(IOO) and Acting Inspector of Ordnance Machinery(IOM). A 1916 Graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Ivory would spend a short time with the 2nd NZEF before been sent to the Woolwich Arsenal to undergo Ordnance training. Passing the Inspecting Ordnance Officers course, Ivory was then placed onto the 36th Advanced Ordnance course. On the successful completion of the Advanced Ordnance course, Ivory was granted a six-month attachment to the Woolwich Arsenal to gain practical experience in guns, carriages and explosives and to oversee the purchase of modern equipment for New Zealand’s Ordnance Workshops. Ivory would return to New Zealand in February 1921.[14]
The IOO was initially envisaged as part of the Ordnance Staff but unwilling to break with the military organisational conventions of the time the IOO would be attached to the Branch of the Director of Artillery, with the understanding that Ivory would also be responsible to the DOS for Ordnance matters as the acting IOM. Ivory’s duties would be;[15]
Technical inspection of Artillery material, Ammunition and Magazines, whether held on charge by RNZA or Ordnance.
Member of the SAA Committee.
The Inspection of Small Arms and Machine Guns as required by DOS
Questions re List of Changes in War Material and questions generally as to Artillery Material.
Questions re Calibration, Sound Ranging and Metrology as required by D of A.
Instructional Duties as may be arranged by D of A.
Regimental duty as a relieving Officer when available
Inspection of Telephones, Electrical Light Stores, Signalling Stores, Dynamos and Electrical Instruments as required by DOS
New personnel regulations
From 3 July 1920, all temporary appointments to the NZAOC would be made by the temporary employment board at General Headquarters on the recommendation of unit Officers Commanding. General Headquarters instruction laid down that should a unit OC be required to engage additional personnel for temporary employment, an application to the Temporary Employment Board (TEB) would have to be made. The TEB would then arrange the selection of suitable individuals from applicants on the waiting list, giving preference to returned soldiers. At the time the rank of NCO’s in the NZAOC was only temporary and would be relinquished as soon as the permanent establishments had been authorised. Permanent appointments of NCO’s would be filled only by men who qualified by examination and are in all respects the most suitable for the position, irrespective of whether they were serving in a temporary capacity as private or NCO. Where qualifications were equal, preference would be given to returned soldiers.[16]
Ordnance Depots
Northern Command
The current facilities at the Mount Eden Depot were and not fit for purpose with suitable storage accommodation was urgently needed. Until suitable storage accommodation was provided, mobilization stores for Auckland command were to be housed at Featherston Camp.
Central Command
Suitable requirements for mobilisation stores were also required for the Central Command. The NZAOC Palmerston North Detachment had closed during this period and had transferred its stores to Featherston and Trentham Camp.[17]
The NZAOC Stores located in Buckle Street in Wellington had been relocated to Trentham.[18]
The complete demolition of Featherston Camp was therefore delayed pending suitable accommodation being made available in the Auckland District.
Southern Command
Agreement between the Education and Defence Departments had been reached on 11 September 1920 for the handover of the Burnham Industrial School to the Defence Department for use as a Military training camp and Ordnance Depot. On 15 November 1920, the Defence Department formally took over the buildings for use as an Ordnance Depot. During November 1920 an expenditure of £500 was approved for the purchase and erection of shelving in various buildings as preparation for the new Ordnance Depot.[19]
As the necessary alterations and certain additions were gradually made and buildings became available, Ordnance stores located at King Edward Barracks and the Dunedin Ordnance Depot located in St Andrews Street Dunedin were relocated to Burnham Camp as the Southern Command Ordnance Depot began to take shape.[20] Burnham Camp would ultimately provide sufficient accommodation for all the necessary military stores for the South Island.[21]
Due to a reorganisation in 1921 both the Canterbury and Nelson Military District and the Otago and Southland Military Districts were combined into the Southern Military Command
Ordnance Corps Picnic
The annual picnic of the NZAOC was held at Day s Bay on 4 February 1921 in ideal weather. A most enjoyable time was spent. A large programme o£ children’s events were also put through. [24]
Corps Alliance
Approved by His Majesty the King at the end of 1920, General Order No 95 of 1 March 1921 granted formal approval of an alliance between the RAOC and the Ordnance Corps of;[25][26]
Australia
Canada
New Zealand
South Africa
Motto
The RAOC motto ” SUA TELA TONANTI” formally adopted as the motto of the NZAOC.
Obituary
The Ordnance Officer, Northern Command Captain Ernest Charles Dovey, NZSC passed away at his residence on 11 July 1921. Captain Dovey was a popular staff officer and was well known throughout New Zealand military circles. An old Imperial Army man, he came to New Zealand in the early days of the defence movement and held positions as an instructor in the mounted service. He took a leading part in organising the Dominion military tournaments before the war, and on the reorganisation of the force in “Sir Alexander Godley’s, time entered the Staff Corps as a lieutenant. In the early days of the European war, he was engaged in preparing troops for the front and in 1916 was adjutant at Trentham Camp. He went to the front as captain of the Staff Corps, and for some, time was commandant at Etaples. On his return, he was appointed to the Ordnance staff, first as an Ordnance Officer in Palmerston North on a Probationary period then as the Ordnance Officer for the Auckland district.
Personnel Movements -July 1920 to June 1921
Releases
Articifer G Bridge
Articifer E.V Evans
Articifer F Howe
Articifer W Philips
Articifer M Scollard
Articifer F.J Sygrove
Private William Ernest Aston
Private W.S Barr
Private D Cameron
Private Phillip Frederick Deibert
Private Frederick Vaugha Evans
Private George Henry Gedson
Private Gray Gray
Private McKenzie Denis Horneman
Private Petersen Julius
Private Robert James Kennedy
Private Benjamin Edward Lambert
Private H Lander
Private William Alexander Larkin
Private W.H Launder
Private p McIlroy
Private Wilfred John Mitchinson
Private David Morgan
Private Charles Joseph Phillips
Private Arthur Pidduck
Private D.A Russell
Private John James Thomas
Private Henry Samuel Wilkie
Lance Corporal Edward Beardmore
Lance Corporal Joseph Fitzgerald
Lance Corporal Leonard Hancox
Lance Corporal Henry Edward Augustus Jones
Lance Corporal Edwin Mitchell
Lance Corporal John Wingate Nicholson
Lance Corporal William Kingston O’Connell
Lance Corporal G.E.D Robertson
Lance Corporal A.E Robinson
Lance Corporal Arthur Herbert Ross
Lance Corporal E Sharpe
Lance Corporal Robert George Smith
Corporal Theodore Anderson
Corporal Robert Brown
Corporal Arthur Thomas Burnette
Corporal Walter Bentham Clark
Corporal J Duffy
Corporal Frederick William Green
Corporal F.L McKenzie
corporal Edward McManus
Corporal H.A Rodgers
Corporal William Watt
Corporal Henry James Willis
Sergeant John Murray
Sergeant Francis Renshaw
Staff Sergeant J.R Hopkinson
Staff Sergeant J.W Kirby
Staff Sergeant J Nolan
Staff Sergeant G Quayle
Staff Quartermaster Sergeant John Leslie Jackson
Sergeant Major Artificer William Edward Moore
Armanmet Sergeant Major (WO) Thomas Edward Bryce
lieutenant Frederick W. Kibblcwhite
Captain Livingston Forsythe McNair
Honorary Lieutenant (NZAOD) Armourer Quartermaster Sergeant W.E Luckman, RAOC.[27]
[1] “H-19 Defence Forces of New Zealand, Annual Report of the General Officer Commanding the Forces,” Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives (1921).
[2] Relinquished appointment on retirement on 12 July 1920. “Appointments, Promotions, Resignations and Transfer of Officers of the New Zealand Staff Corps, Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery and Territorial Force,” New Zealand Gazette 55 (1920): 1866.
[3] Previously DADOS NZEF, after demobilisation Gossage joined the NZAOD as a Lieutenant on 16 August 1920. “Gossage, Charles Ingram “, Personal File, Archives New Zealand 1914.
[4]Ordnance Officer Auckland Mar 1920 to Sept 1920. “Lyons, Michael Joseph “, Personal File, Archives New Zealand (1914-1931).
[5] “Mcnair, Livingston Forsyth,” Personal File, Archives New Zealand (1914-1921).
[6] Ordnance Officer Auckland October 1920 to 11 July 1921. Passed away at his residence on 11 July 1921 “Personel Matter Dovey,” Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 11, 13 July 1921.
[7] Relinquished position due to retirement on1 14 July 1921 “Appointments, Promotions, Resignations and Transfers of Officers of the Nzsc, Nzaod and Territorial Force,” New Zealand Gazette No 72 (1921): 2046.
[8] “Ivory, William “, Personal File, Archives New Zealand (1916-1933).
[9] Held appointment from1 July 1919 to 14 June 1921 “Appointments, Promotions, Resignations and Transfer of Officers of the NZ Staff Corps, Nzaod and Territorial Force,” New Zealand Gazette No 16 (1922): 588.
[10] 19 October 1920, Relinquished position on retirement. “Appointments, Promotions, Resignations and Transfer of Officers of the New Zealand Staff Corps, Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery and Territorial Force,” New Zealand Gazette No 95 (1920).
[11] 13 September 1920, Relinquished position on retirement. “Appointments, Promotions, Resignations and Transfer of Officers of the New Zealand Staff Corps, Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery and Territorial Force,” New Zealand Gazette No 83 (1920).
[12] “H-19 Defence Forces of New Zealand, Annual Report of the General Officer Commanding the Forces.”
[24] “Ordnance Corps Picnic,” Evening Post, Volume CI, Issue 32, 7 February 1921.
[25] Major J.S Bolton, A History of the Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps (Trentham: RNZAOC, 1992), 37.
[26] “Territorials,” Evening Star, Issue 17619, 26 March 1921.
[27] After having served as the Chief Armourer for the New Zealand Forces from 3 July 1903 to 9 September 1920 returned to the United Kingdom “Personal Luckman,” Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 292, 3 September 1920.
Gazetted by regulations published on 1 February 1917, the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps was established as part of the permanent staff of the Defence Forces of New Zealand. It was organized with Ordnance Stores under four District Ordnance Officers based in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin, with detachments in Palmerston North and Featherston.[1]
For this article’s purposes, the New Zealand Army Ordnance Department and Corps activities during 1918-1923 will be collectively referred to as the NZAOC.
Following the cessation of hostilities in November 1918, the routine work of the four District Ordnance Officers significantly increased. The return of troops necessitated the opening and equipping of hospitals and vocational and educational training schemes, which introduced new and important responsibilities for the Ordnance Corps.
Organisation
During the period of 1918-1919, the strength of the NZAOC increased significantly due to the takeover of camps and the surge in workload following demobilization. Preference was given to returning soldiers when recruiting for the NZAOC. As of 1st June 1919, the total strength of the NZAOC was 486 personnel.;[2]
18 Officers, and
475 Other ranks.
Key Appointments
Directing Staff and Executive Staff
Director of Equipment and Ordnance Stores
Major T. McCristell, NZAOD.
Assistant Director of Equipment and Ordnance Stores
Honorary Lieutenant Frederick W. Kibblewhite, NZAOD.
Honorary Lieutenant William H Manning, NZAOD.
Honorary Lieutenant William Ramsey, NZAOD.
NZAOC appropriations year ending 31 March 1919
Alexandra Barracks, Buckle Street, Wellington
The home of the NZAOC, the Defence complex of Alexandra Barracks included the Central Districts Ordnance Depot, located on the corner of Taranaki and Buckle Street and the Armament Workshop, which was located on the site where the current museum is.
The New Zealand Ordnance Corps 1918, Buckle Street Wellington. RNZAOC School
Central Districts Ordnance Depot
The Ordnance Depot for the Central Districts, it maintained a number of sections including Clerical, Store and Maintenance, with specialist subsections such as Boot (new and repair), Sailmaker (Textile repair) and clothing.[3]
Boot Section
The total quantity of boots received from manufacturers during the 1918/19 period was;
51,693 pairs shoes (deck),
6,552 pairs.
When drafting specifications for the supply of boots in 1918, it became evident that several adjustments were necessary to enhance comfort and durability compared to the 1917 pattern. Special fittings were added to the toes of all military lasts used by manufacturers to provide more room in that area. Short, stout puffs were also introduced to prevent undue pressure on the wearer’s toes. These improvements resulted in no complaints regarding discomfort.
Furthermore, a special tanning process was employed for the sole leather, specifically suited for military use, which proved satisfactory in wear tests. Only 95 pairs of boots were rejected during this period, primarily for minor faults. Notably, there were no instances where manufacturers deliberately deviated from specifications; overall, both workmanship and materials consistently met the required standards.[4]
On account of the shortage of military footwear in England during the 1918/19 period, shipments to England to equip returning members of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force before leaving for New Zealand were;
boots (ankle) 42,900 pairs,
shoes (deck), 14,000 pairs,
To satisfy demands made in New Zealand, the following issues were made
Boots (ankle, regulation), 29,886 pairs,
boots (light and special), 68 pairs;
shoes (deck), 9,845 pairs.
The stock of in store as of June 1919 comprised;
boots (ankle, regulation) 5,092 pairs,
shoes (deck) 7,684 pairs,
The Central District’s Ordnance Depot also maintained a Boot-repair Factory. During the 1918/19 period, the output of the boot-repair factory had been equal to all demands, with all repairs required for Trentham and Featherston Camps and districts being satisfied. The total quantity of boots repaired from the 1st of June 1918 to the 31st of May 1919 was
12,709 pairs, at an average cost of 5s. Id. per pair.
13 pairs of shoes (deck) at an average cost of Is. 7d. per pair.
All materials used in repairing boots and shoes were of the highest quality obtainable, and the results given in wear proved to be highly satisfactory. The repair process was as follows;
Before repairing, all boots are thoroughly disinfected by immersion in a kerol (disinfectant) solution and water.
They were then pulled onto perfect-fitting lasts,
necessary repairs were carried out,
and the sizes stamped on the soles.
The next process is cleaning and blocking. This is done in the following manner
The boots are pulled on perfect-fitting followers,
the uppers thoroughly washed in a mixture of soap and lukewarm water.
While the leather is in a mellow state all creases and wrinkles in the uppers are rubbed out,
the boots are then put aside for twenty-four hours’ drying.
After this period the uppers are thoroughly treated with dubbin, which not only penetrates the pores of the leather (thus rendering them watertight) but also has a mellowing effect upon the uppers, making them equal in pliability to those of new boots.
The boots are then taken off the followers and placed in storage-bins ready for use.
After this treatment, the boots were in excellent condition, both from a serviceable and sanitary point of view. As of 30 June 1919, 4,600 pairs of boots had been treated in this manner, and these figures were added to (approximately) at the rate of forty pairs daily until the present stock of boots in store for repairs (estimated, after allowing for rejections, at 4,000 pairs) was exhausted. From 1918, two disabled returned soldiers were trained in boot-repairing and successfully transitioned into civil life. The Repatriation Department sent up three more disabled returned soldiers for similar training.
Miscellaneous stores
With the cessation of hostilities, supplies of miscellaneous stores were reduced to a minimum consistent with estimated requirements. Due to the Influenza, all tentage was placed at the disposal of the Public Health Department.
Clothing
The deliveries of all clothing into the Central District’s Ordnance Depot during the period had been most satisfactory, with practically nil complaints from the various manufacturers for the good work delivered. The condition of stock in the Department was good, with no sign of moth damage visible. Hospital clothing and linen issued to the various hospitals were of very good quality. In obtaining supplies of linen, shirting, pillow-cotton, and Turkey twill towels from New Zealand manufacturers, the NZAOC supplies a good hard-wearing article and saves a great deal in cost as against local purchases. The installation of the power plant in the Sail-makers’ Section was beneficial and allowed a vast quantity of goods, such as sheets, slips (pillow), neckerchiefs, and cloths (table) to be made up.
The NZAOC stock of cholera belts on the cessation of hostilities totalled 19,850, this was essentially dead stock which was re manufactures into shirts (flannel, hospital) and drawers (flannel). The cost of this work is 2s. 6d. per garment. This innovation has proved a success and has enabled the NZAOC to put to good use articles which were considered as useless. Three belts are required to make each flannel shirt, and two belts are required to make each pair of flannel drawers. New flannel shirts cost 10s. 6d. each, and drawers 8s. 6d. each.
It was considered advisable to take steps to protect the Kapok mattresses from damage owing to the wires on beds rusting from perspiration. To this end, the Sailmakers’ Section converted some 1,500 cotton blankets not considered suitable for issue into mattress protectors.
The renovation of Hats (felt) has also been undertaken and put to good use. The cost of the renovation was 3s., which included new leather chin-straps, restocking, and cleaning of the hood. The work was most satisfactorily performed, with some 1,500 hats subjected to renovation, enabling the NZAOC to reissue hats that in the past were not considered suitable.
The work on garment renovation was a complete success during the year. This scheme put to good use articles that formerly would not have been used again. All garments were thoroughly disinfected when being laundered, and all fear of contagion was eliminated.
During this period, the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the United Kingdom was supplied from NZAOC stocks with;
Jackets, 25,000
trousers, 15,040
shirts work, 42,952
shirts, under, 18,056
drawers, pairs, 18,015
jerseys, 24,760;
socks, pairs, 39,068
putties, pairs, 15,096
boots, pairs, 42,900
shoes, pairs, 14,000.
The Forces in Egypt were supplied with:
Jackets, 2,000.
The total value of these articles was £153,600.
Armament Workshop
During the war, components for the repairs of small arms had been hampered by difficulties obtaining spares from England. As a wartime expedient, obsolete MLE rifles, once converted by the Armament Workshops to charger loading and sighted for modern ammunition, were issued to the Trentham and Featherston camps. On the cessation of hostilities, these rifles were refurbished and redistributed to the four districts by the requirements of the Training Branch as follows:[5]
Auckland, 753
Wellington, 2,163
Canterbury, 2,126
Otago, 958.
Produce
The NZAOC earned good revenue from the sale of waste products. During the 1918/19, £3,520 was paid into the Public Account regarding produce sales.[6]
Featherston Camp
On the cessation of hostilities, control of the greater part of the administrative work of Featherston Camp came under the jurisdiction of the NZAOC, the satellite camps were closed, and many of the buildings of the Canvas Camp were dismantled and removed to Trentham. Stores on issue to the various schools at Featherston were either transferred to the Schools of Instruction at Trentham, with the balance distributed among the four districts. Outstanding accounts to local vendors were settled and matters placed on a sound commercial basis. Rented areas were cleared and rendered fit for return to the lessors.[7]
Trentham Camp
As with Featherston, administrative control of parts of this camp was placed under the jurisdiction of the NZAOC, and general cleaning up on similar lines to that carried out at Featherston was carried out. A large staff of artisans was employed in the construction of hospital buildings and general alterations to existing buildings.
In both camps, the demobilization of troops and the subsequent cleaning up, stocktaking, and balancing of ledgers.
Trentham Ordnance Workshops
During 1918, the Trentham workshops had been working at full capacity with 16,000 articles, such as coffins and tables manufactured or repaired. This work was carried out in addition to new hospitals and entailed using 344,207 square feet of timber and 25,278 square feet of three-ply. A large quantity of musketry equipment and office furniture was also manufactured in the Trentham workshop, saving the need to purchase from the commercial market at inflated prices. Machinery for a second-class Ordnance workshop has been ordered through the High Commissioner, London.
Hospital and Vocational training infrastructure
On the 9th of January 1919, the NZAOC took the Railways and Works Department responsibilities for Trentham Camp. This responsibility included the maintenance of Trentham. Camp and alterations to several hutments into hospital accommodation. The hospital alterations were as follows: [8]
Ten hutments, 22 ft. by 140 ft. Lined and converted into hospital wards, with necessary kitchen, Duty Sister’s room, and lavatory accommodation
Four and a half hutments are divided into cubicle accommodation for Sisters, Nurses, and V.A.D.s. There are dining and sitting rooms for Sisters and V.A.D.s, and a self-contained kitchen for the female staff employed in Trentham Military Hospital.
In addition to the above, provision was made for X-ray plant and a plaster-room. Alterations were also affected in the operating-theatre. A new septic tank capable of dealing with the sewerage of 1,000 persons was constructed. Owing to the difficulty of obtaining skilled carpenters and plumbers the progress of the work was somewhat slow. Further works have been carried out for educational and vocational training.
As part of the vocational training scheme for returning servicemen, Huts were fitted out for training in:
carpentry,
tailoring,
boot making,
commercial training,
book-keeping,
basket making,
leather-work,
surgical boots and splint making, and
acetone welding.
The provision was also made to install a hot-water system for the new hospital quarters.
Ordnance Ammunition Section at Fort Ballance
The Ammunition Section at Fort Balance destroyed a large number of B.L. cordite cartridges owing to deterioration but were replaced from stocks of material held by the Ammunition Section. About 3,000 rounds of Q.F. ammunition was made up during the year, and 1,000 rounds altered to conform with later specifications. The annual proof of percussion fuzes, friction tubes, etc was also successfully carried out.[9]
NZAOC as Quartermasters
The accounting, care, and custody of stores by units had generally been unsatisfactory, with units failing to fulfil their responsibilities as outlined in the Regulations of the New Zealand Military Forces. In response, eleven NZAOC Staff Sergeants were seconded as Quartermaster-Sergeants to these units. Their task was to rectify the situation and bring the units’ store accounts up to standard. This initiative proved successful, as subsequent audits revealed few, if any, deficiencies.
However, it became evident that many units lacked adequate storage facilities, leaving numerous items vulnerable to theft or damage. As a result, many items had to be transported back to regional Stores Depots for secure storage.[10][11]
Due to the success of the emergency measures of NZAOC Staff Sergeants into units as Quartermaster-Sergeants, an amendment to Army regulations was published on 3 October 1918 to make the management of Quartermaster Sergeants a NZAOC responsibility. The amendments were as follows;[12]
83. Group and Unit Quartermaster-Sergeants will belong to and be trained by the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps, and when posted for duty in districts will be borne as supernumeraries on the establishment of that corps. They will be included in the effective strength of the group or unit in which they are actually serving and will be so accounted for in periodical returns for those groups or units. In so far as the questions of efficiency, leave, and duty are concerned, Quartermaster-Sergeants will be under the direct supervision of the A.Q.M.G. of the district, and will be directly responsible to the Group or Unit Commander, as the case may be, for the performance of their respective duties as Group or Unit Accountants. They will devote the whole of their time to the accounting, care, and custody of public property on issue
Influenza Epidemic
Under the management of the Director of Equipment and Ordnance Stores, Major Thomas McCristell, the 123 men of the Ordnance Corps equipped the various emergency hospitals with over 300 beds, supplied the stores and supervised the hospital arrangements and general machinery of each establishment in and about Wellington, so that by 20 November the following hospitals and convalescent hospitals had been established:[13]
Hospitals
Normal School, 91 women,
Sydney street Schoolroom, 41 men.
Missions to Seamen, 65 men.
St. John’s Schoolroom, 67 men and women.
Alexandra Hall, 20 men.
Wellington College, 105 men and women.
St. Patrick’s College, 48 men.
Brooklyn Hall, 32 men and women.
Johnsonville, 23 men and women.
Seatoun, 10 men and women.
Convalescent Hospitals
St. Thomas’s Hall, 35 men.
Wellington Convalescent Home, 24 women.
Salvation Army Training College, 16 women.
St. Anne’s Hall, 30 men.
Untended Children’s Home
Miramar Golf Club, 56 children
The 1916 census listed the population of Wellington as 95235, deaths in Wellington attributed to the influenza were 795 which gave Wellington a death rate of 7.9 per 1000. This rate was slightly higher than Auckland but well below the death rate found in other North Island Locations which was as high as 43 per 1000.[14] It would be optimistic to believe that the work carried out by the Ordnance Corps in establishing emergency hospitals contributed to Wellingtons low death rate.
The Ordnance men were not immune to the effects of the Influenza, and at one stage 7O men were laid up with influenza, placing extraordinary demands onto the very much reduced staff.[15] Private F.W Maynard, a 35-year-old Ordnance Soldier, died as a result of the complications caused by Influenza on the 28 November.[16]
By December 1918 the influenza epidemic was under control, and the crisis has passed with the emergency hospitals progressively shut down. Much of the credit to the success of the setting up and management of the emergency hospitals were placed directly on Major McCristell and his team from the Ordnance Corps.
Sport
On 23rd September 1918, a rugby team from the NZAOC defeated a team from Base Records by 12 to 5. Later that evening, both teams and other staff members gathered for a smoke concert. Major T. M’Cristell, Director of Army Ordnance and Supplies, chaired the event, which was enjoyed with musical performances and speeches, making for a very pleasant evening.
Another football match took place on Saturday, 12th October, between the NZAOC and Base Records, resulting in a decisive 11 to 3 victory for the NZAOC. Captain King and Private Batchelor scored tries for the NZAOC, with Quartermaster-Sergeant Maclntyre converting one. While both teams displayed good form, the NZAOC forwards proved superior to those of Base Records. Lieutenant Valentine scored a penalty goal for the losing team, and Mr. R. Fordyce officiated as referee.
Ordnance Branch Picnic
The annual picnic of the Ordnance Branch was held at Day’s Bay on 12 February 1919 under altogether favourable conditions. There was an attendance of between three and four hundred, and the presence of so many children prompted General Sir Alfred Robin to remark during the presentation of the sports prizes that such a happy gathering of young folks augured very well for the Ordnance Branch of the future. The picnickers left town by the Duchess at 1015 a.m., picking up the Rarotongan contingent from Somes Island on the way, and engaged in a day’s sport and pleasure. Lieutenants Austin and Miller, with Corporals Flynn and Barnett as judges, supervised the sports arrangements, and Corporal J. Brown was an efficient secretary. A cold luncheon was provided in the pavilion, and later afternoon tea was served on the grass.[17]
Farwell
One of the largest gatherings of members of the Ordnance Staff took place on 19 May 1919, at the Buckle-street depot to bid farewell to Staff Sergeant Major Donald McIntyre, who, after 17 years’ service is severing his connection with the Defence Department to take up duties with the firm of E Morris. Sergeant Major McIntyre joined the service after his return from the Boer War. Major McCristell in making the presentation on behalf of the staff, regretted the loss. of such a loyal and well-respected member. The presentation took the form of a substantial cheque, a silver tea service, a silver rail oak tray, and a silver cake stand. Sergeant-Major McIntyre led last season in the- batting and bowling averages of the cricket, team, and Captain King, on behalf of the members of the team presented him with a bat for his batting record, and a silver hot water jug for his bowling average. He also expressed regret at losing the services of such an excellent member of the team and trusted that Sergeant-Major McIntyre would always keep in touch with them, and become, an honuary member of the sports committee.[18]
Lance Corporal Edward McManus Sharpe from Trentham to be Range Warden at Redcliff’s Range, Christchurch.[19][20]
Quartermaster Sergeant Major Quayle to Hawera Defence Office as Group Quartermaster. [21]
Lieutenant Albert Austin from the N.Z. Permanent Staff, July 3, 1918.[22]
Lieutenant Walter N. Bates, from the N.Z. Permanent Staff, July 3 1918[23]
Promotions
Conductor James M. Miller, NZAOC to lieutenant NZAOD 3 July 1918.[24]
Conductor William H Manning, NZAOC to be honorary lieutenant. 4 July 1918.[25]
Conductor William Ramsey, NZAOC to be honorary lieutenant 4 July 1918.[26]
Staff Sergeant-Major William E. Luckman, NZAOC to be honorary lieutenant 4 July 1918.[27]
Lieutenant Alfred W. Baldwin, NZAOD appointed camp quartermaster, Featherston Military Camp and is granted the temporary rank of-captain whilst so employed (November 18 1918).[28]
Enlistments
198 Private Daniel Brett
200 Private Alfred Healy de Vere
201 Private Christopher Greeshaw
203 Private Richard Rowe
204 Private Benjamin Studley
206 Private John Sheehan
207 Private Orecchio Natale
209 Private A.K Simpson
211 Cadet John Lines
213 Private William Saul Keegan
215 Private Samuel Victor Forsythe
220 Cadet Frederick Stephen Forster Shell
221 Cadet Harry William Miller
228 Private Thomas Graham Niven
239 Private Edward John Treweek
241 Private Theodore Norris
246 Private Thomas Bowman
253 Private Charles James Gardiner
254 Private James Gorman
263 Private McKenzie Denis Horneman
268 Private James Alexander Kenning
269 Private George Kermode
273 Private Thomas Ellwood Lyle
293 Artificer Michael Scollard
294 Private Richard Brady Simpson
297 Private George Steventon Thompson
299 Private Peter Tulloch
318 Private Frank Joseph Shacklock
329 Private Harold Fraser White
332 Private Hugh Patrick Duffin
343 Private Tom John McGrath
348 Private Leonard Robertshaw
354 Private William Varian Wilson
361 Private Josiah Phethean
366 Private William Henry Murdoch
368 Private James King
381 Private Henry Steele
382 Private George Priestley Smith
392 Private Robert O’Brien
393 Private John Naylor
395 Private Orlando Max Adams
407 Private James Crone
409 Private John de Rungs
414 Private Allen Gibbs
418 Private William Henry McCarthy
424 Private Phillip Thomas Labatt
431 Private John McVean Walker
432 Private Reginald Andrew Ross
436 Private John Raymond Johnson
438 Private Leonard Alexander Tall
441 Private Montagu Spotswood
446 Private Cecil Balcombe Langridge
453 Private Harold Rigby
462 Private William Ernest George
477 Private Lawritz Christopher Jansen
478 Private Andrew Robert Murphy
480 Private James Herbert Turner
493 Private William Parry Mortimore
515 Private Thomas Edward Mills
518 James McEntee
553 Private Martin Joseph Power
555 Private Gray
562 Private Herbert Edward Rogers
563 Artificer Gerald Bridge
574 Artificer Henry James Day
580 Private Robert James Kennedy
589 Private James O’Malley
590 Private Petersen Julius
594 Private James Gordon Sievwright
595 Private Albert Sydney Smith
601 Private James Pritchard
605 Private Walter Edward Cook
617 Private Horace James Richards
634 Private John Morrison
654 Private Lewis Freeman Keys
669 Lance Corporal Thomas William Cooper
675 Private Benjamin Smith
680 Private Egbert Edwin White
687 Private George Quayle
690 Private John Miller
695 Private William Cyril McGill
697 Private William Gibbons
714 Private Kennith Hoare
718 Private Peter Douglas Adamson
948 Lieutenant Michael Joseph Lyons
1001 Private Arthur James Kelly
Releases
211 Cadet John Lines
220 Cadet Frederick Stephen Forster Shell
28 Private Robert James Kennedy
66 Private Harry Stephens Jupp
70 Private Walter Ernest Hamilton Knowles
101 Private Michael Joseph Rees
115 Private Alfred William Sparkes
131 Private George Yates
161 Private Herbert Clarence Martin
170 Private Benjamin Disraeli Wigton
179 Private Paul Ernest Morris
184 Private Frederick Charles Valentine Martinson
188 Private Robert Park
189 Private Percy Deaker Owen
190 Private John Joseph Lynch
191 Private James Laurence Lord
198 Private Daniel Brett
201 Private Christopher Greeshaw
203 Private Richard Rowe
204 Private Benjamin Studley
206 Private John Sheehan
207 Private Orecchio Natale
215 Private Samuel Victor Forsythe
239 Private Edward John Treweek
297 Private George Steventon Thompson
332 Private Hugh Patrick Duffin
361 Private Josiah Phethean
381 Private Henry Steele
382 Private George Priestley Smith
395 Private Orlando Max Adams
414 Private Allen Gibbs
432 Private Reginald Andrew Ross
438 Private Leonard Alexander Tall
562 Private Herbert Edward Rogers
589 Private James O’Malley
594 Private James Gordon Sievwright
595 Private Albert Sydney Smith
654 Private Lewis Freeman Keys
695 Private William Cyril McGill
811 Private Henry Edward Franklin
64728 Private Frederick Maynard
34 Lance Corporal Cecil Martin Ellison
149 Lance Corporal Lionel Bust Foster
37 Corporal James Flynn
67 Corporal Martin Henri Kearney
48 Conductor Mark Leonard Hathaway
137 Sergeant Horace Eugene Waller
Captain Robert Vinning Parker
Lt. (Hon Capt Temp.) W. T. Beck, DSO posted to the Retired List, with the hon. rank of Capt., and permission to retain his rank and wear the prescribed uniform.[29]
Deaths
Frederick William Maynard, Influenza 28 November 1918[30]
[1] “New Zealand Army Ordnance Department and New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps Regulations,” New Zealand Gazette, No 95, June 7 1917.
[2] “H-19 Defence Forces of New Zealand, Annual Report of the General Officer Commanding the Forces,” Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives (1919).
[11] “H-19d Conference of Defence Department Officers (Notes by) on Criticisms, Suggestions and Recommendations as Contained in the Report of the Defence Expenditure Commission,” Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives (1918).
[12] “Amending the Regulations for the Military Forces of New New Zealand,” New Zealand Gazette No 135 (1918): 3429.
[13] “Revelations,” New Zealand Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 10133, 22 November 1918.
Gazetted by regulations published on 1 February 1917, the New Zealand Army Ordnance Department was established as part of the permanent staff of the Defence Forces of New Zealand alongside the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps.
The Gazetted regulations that established the NZAOD laid out the structure of the department, and one of the appointments established was:
The Inspector, engineer, electric light and defence vessel stores.
Graded as Ordnance officer, third class (Captain), the foundation member in this role in the new Ordnance organisation was the then Sixty-Year-old George John Parrell.
George John Parrell was born in the Parish of St. Mary’s, London, on 16 February 1857. By occupation, a Clerk, and this appointment in the NZAOD was the culmination of a lengthy career in the British Army.
Royal Engineers
Parrell enlisted in the Royal Engineers at Westminster on 4 October 1873 and was assigned the service number 12261. He was first posted to Chatham, Kent, to complete his initial training. He received his first Good Conduct Badge after two years’ service and was promoted to Lance-Corporal on 29 December 1874, reverting to the rank of Sapper on 20 January 1877. He was posted to Bermuda on 1 November 1877, where he was to spend the next eight years of service, was promoted again to Lance-Corporal on 25 March 1878, gained his second Good Conduct Badge on 6 October 1879, and was promoted to Corporal on 1 July 1880 and Sergeant on 1 March 1885. He also re-engaged while in Bermuda to complete 21 years of service. In December 1885, he and his family took passage to England, where he was on home service for about 15 months before returning to Bermuda on 7 April 1887, continuing to serve there for just over a further five years. He was promoted to Company Sergeant-Major, Foreman of Works, and Sergeant-Major, Storekeeper on 26 April 1887. George Parrell was again promoted, to Quarter Master Sergeant, on 1 April 1892, and in June the same year, he and his family returned to England, where he was awarded his British Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. Also, in 1892 Q.M.S. Parrell passed a Submarine Mining Course with a ‘superior’ pass.
His last appointment in the British Army appears to have been as a Stores Accountant with the rank of Company Sergeant-Major, Foreman of Works, and on 5 October 1893, he was discharged from the Coastal Battalion, Royal Engineers at the expiry of his term of service. As a Pensioner, he completed a Submarine Mining Instructor’s Course at H.M.S. Vernon on 31 May 1895 and almost immediately took passage with his family to New Zealand on the S.S. Tainui, which left London on 13 June 1895.
New Zealand Permanent Militia
Sergeant-Major Parrell was enlisted in the New Zealand Permanent Militia as a Submarine Instructor with effect from 13 July 1895, signing his attestation papers at the Permanent Force Depot at Wellington on 10 September 1895. He joined the Torpedo Corps and, on the disbanding of the Torpedo Corps, was transferred to No. 2 Service Company. He was promoted to Regimental Sergeant-Major on 14 October 1898.
Royal New Zealand Engineers
In 1903, General Orders reported the re-engagement of No. 678 Regimental Sergeant-Major George John Parrell (late Royal Engineers) as Submarine Mining Instructor to the Royal New Zealand Engineers for one year from 1 August 1903. The application for the award of his Meritorious Service Medal was dated 29 May 1907, and the approval dated 14 June and recorded in General Orders 212 of 6th July of the same year.
Royal New Zealand Artillery
In October 1907, Regimental Sergeant-Major Parrell was transferred to the Royal New Zealand Army Artillery as the R.N.Z.E. had been absorbed into the Electric Section of the R.N.Z.A. He was appointed Engineer Store Accountant on 17 June 1913 and granted the honorary rank of Lieutenant. This was regularised by the gazetting of the commissioned rank. He was promoted to Quartermaster and Honorary Lieutenant on 17 June 1917.
New Zealand Army Ordnance Department
Transferring into the New Zealand Army Ordnance Department on its establishment on 1 April 1917, Parrell was graded Ordnance Officer 3rd Class with the rank of Captain and held the appointment of Inspector of Engineers, Electric Light, and Defence Vessels Stores. Captain Parrell retired on 30 September 1919 and died in Auckland on 22 July 1936.
In 1917 the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps was formed and 100 years on its immediate predecessor, the Defence Stores Department (also known as the Defence Store Office) has mostly been forgotten. The Defence Stores Department, existing in several iterations between 1862 and 1917, was created due to the Colonial Defence Act of 1862. The 1862 Act authorised the formation of the first Regular Force in New Zealand. The Stores Department to support this nascent Defence Force was established as the Office of the Colonial Storekeeper in 1862 and by 1866 had a permanent staff of Eight:
Colonial Storekeeper – Captain John Mitchell
Clerk Auckland- John Bloomfield
Clerk Auckland – John Price
Clerk Wellington – Samuel Anderson
Arms Cleaner and Labourer Auckland – William Cook Rockley
Arms Cleaner and Labourer Auckland – Charles Phillips
Arms Cleaner and Labourer – John Peuligan
In October 1867 the Armed Constabulary Act 1867 disbanded the Colonial Defence Force leading to a reorganisation of the office of the Colonial Storekeeper.
Ordnance Store buildings, Fort Britomart [August 1864]. Alexander Turnbull Library
During this period, the British Forces in New Zealand were maintained by the Military Store Department, which had taken over the responsibilities of the Board of Ordnance which had been disestablished in 1855. With Stores Depots at Fort Britomart in Auckland and Mount Cook in Wellington, the Military Store Department’s primary responsibility was to provide Ordnance support to British units based in New Zealand. The Military Store Department also supported the fledgling Colonial Defence Force, often providing direct support when their units were deployed on operations with Imperial Forces.
With the withdrawal of Imperial Forces from New Zealand in 1869/70, The Military Store Department was one of the last British units to leave New Zealand in July 1870. From then on responsibility for Military Storekeeping became the responsibility of the New Zealand Defence Department.
Responsibility for Military Store Keeping was split between the Armed Constabulary and the Militia and Volunteers. Storekeeping for the Armed Constabulary was managed by Samuel Anderson, who as the Armed Constabulary Storekeeper attended to the needs of the Armed Constabulary Force. Anderson was assisted in the districts by men of the Armed Constabulary who were seconded from their duties to act as Sub-Storekeepers.
The storekeeping needs of the Militia and Volunteers was the responsibility of the Defence Stores, which were managed by the Inspector of Stores, Lieutenant Colonel Edward Gorton. The Defence Stores Storekeepers in Auckland and Wellington were supported by Sub-Storekeepers in the districts. Although the Wellington and Auckland posts were permeant and full-time positions, many of the district Sub-Storekeeper positions were dual role positions in which the holders held other positions such as Drill Instructors for the Militia or Sub-Storekeepers for the Public Works Department. In a number of cases Armed Constabulary Sub-Storekeepers also acted as Defence Stores Sub-Storekeepers.
Lieutenant Colonel Edward Gorton
Lieutenant Colonel Edward Gorton had taken up the appointment of Inspector of Stores on 23 April 1869. Under the auspice of the Public Stores Act of 1867, Gorton assumed control of the Colonial Storekeepers’ office’s in Wellington and Auckland, effectively becoming the head of the Defence Stores. Gorton’s responsibilities increased with the passing of the Public Stores Act of 1871 in which he took responsibility for all of New Zealand’s Government Stores. From 1874 moves began to separate the Defence Stores from the Office of the Inspector of Stores and to merge the responsibilities of the Armed Constabulary and Defence Stores Storekeeper into a single organisation. The change began in1878 with the retirement of Colonel Gorton. Samuel Anderson, the Armed Constabulary Storekeeper, assumed the position of Defence Storekeeper.
The Defence Act (1886) called for the militia functions of the Armed Constabulary to be transferred to the New Zealand Permanent Militia, leading to the Defence Stores Department coming under the control of the Department of the Under Secretary of Defence.
Shrinking budgets in 1888 called for the closure and redundancy of the Auckland and Dunedin depots and their staff. All stocks required for the use of the volunteer units were placed under the charge of the local magazine keepers. This left Mount Cook as the Main Stores Depot for New Zealand. By December 1888, the need for a Defence Storekeeper in Auckland was recognised, and Major John William Gascoyne of the New Zealand Permanent Militia was appointed Defence Storekeeper for Auckland.
On 28 September 1899, New Zealand Government committed a New Zealand contingent as part of the Imperial contribution to the South Africa war. Unprepared for rapid mobilisation, the Defence Stores had insufficient equipment and uniforms available for the assembling Mounted infantry contingent. Urgent arrangements for the manufacture or purchase of over 20,000 items of equipment, uniforms, underclothing, horse equipment, saddlery, etc. were placed on the local market. From the 6th to the 21st of October 1899, Captain Anderson and his small staff spent up to 16 hours daily receiving, recording, branding and then dispatching all manner of essential items to the assembled contingent at Karori Camp. With the SS Waiwera due to sail on the 21st of October, most deadlines were achieved, and the 1st New Zealand Contingent to South Africa sailed from Wellington on schedule. Many personal belongings were left behind at the Karori Camp by the members of the Contingent for return to the owner’s home locations. The Defence Stores Department had received lists and directions from the troopers and undertook to see that the things were sent to their homes.
On 7 December 1899, Defence Storekeeper Captain Sam Anderson suddenly passed away. This was at a critical time as the Defence Stores Department which after years of neglect was at breaking point due to the mobilisation. Captain James O’Sullivan, a long-time and experienced member of the Defence Stores, succeeded Anderson as acting Defence Storekeeper.
Fitting out a New Zealand Contingent at the Wellington Defence Stores. Auckland Libraries Heritage Images Collection
Clothing for a New Zealand Contingent being distributed at the Defence Stores, Wellington. Auckland Libraries Heritage Images Collection
Due to the difficulty highlighted in assembling, equipping and deploying the initial South Africa deployment, a Joint Defence (Secret) Committee was convened in 1900 to investigate and make a recommendation on the state of New Zealand Defence. The committee made several recommendations regarding the Defence Stores Department. Changes to the methods of ordering, receiving and issuing military stores were recommended. The most important recommendations were for Mobilisation Stores to be established at the four main volunteer centres. Parliamentary Estimates for the same year provided funds for the erection of the new buildings in each of the main centres;
Wellington – a Mobilisation Store to be built at Buckle Street, Mount Cook, completed 1911.
Christchurch – a Mobilisation Store to be built at King Edward Barracks, completed 1905.
Dunedin – a Mobilisation Store to be built at St Andrew’s Street, completed 1907.
Auckland – No finance was allocated for a Mobilisation Store in Auckland because the existing Magazines constructed in 1872 at Mount Eden were considered suitable.
Nelson – No finance was allocated for a Mobilisation Store in Nelson because the existing buildings were considered suitable.
Defence Stores, Bunny Street, Wellington. Goggle Maps/Public DomainKing Edward Barracks, Christchurch. Christchurch Public LibraryDunedin Mobilisation Stores, 211 St Andrews Street, Dunedin. Google Maps/ Public Domain
The New Zealand Times of 16 July 1901 reported on the Defence Stores in a positive manner;
“it is evident that there will be no need to make any changes in the personnel of the DefenceStoresOffice staff. During the whole time, and in the face of exceptional difficulties, Mr J. O’Sullivan, the Defence Storekeeper, ably assisted by his staff, turned out the whole of the officers and men in such a way as to command gratifying encomiums from Lord Roberts and generals who came into contact with them In South Africa it was universally agreed that our, men were the “best dressed, and equipped’’ of all the colonial troops in the field.”
The immediate post-war period brought little respite for the Defence Stores Department, new Rifles and Machines Guns had been ordered from the United Kingdom, and Khaki had been adopted as the new colour of the uniform. As the new stores and equipment arrived, they had to be inspected, marked and then distributed to units. Concurrently as new stores and equipment were received by units, old equipment was back-loaded to the Defence Stores for further inspection, grading, repair and maintenance and either disposal or redistribution to other units such as school cadets.
Early in 1907, a Defence Council was created as part of a major command reorganisation of the Defence Forces. Under the control of the Defence Council were two distinctive positions with the responsibility for Ordnance Stores
Director of Artillery Services (Ordnance): Responsible for:
Artillery armament,
Fixed coast defences, and
Supplies for ordnance.
Director of Stores: Responsible for:
Clothing and personal equipment,
Accoutrements,
Saddlery,
Harness,
Small-Arms
Machine Guns
Small-arms and Machine gun ammunition,
Material,
Transport,
Vehicles,
Camp Equipment,
All other stores required for the Defence Forces.
On 27 December 1907, James O’Sullivan was confirmed as the Director of Stores, with the Rank of Honorary Captain in the New Zealand Staff Corps. The authorisation for permanent District Storekeepers was also authorised, with the following appointments made:
Mr William Thomas Beck – District Storekeeper, Auckland
Mr Arthur Rumbold Carter White – District Storekeeper, Christchurch
Mr Owen Paul McGuigan – District Storekeeper, Dunedin
Records indicate that the structure of the Defence Stores department at the end of 1907 was;
Defence Stores Department Organisation 1907
1909 brought significant changes to the Defence Forces of New Zealand. The Defence Act 1909 replaced the Volunteer forces with the Territorial Army, and compulsory military training was instituted. The New Zealand Army Service Corps was initiated in 1910, and discussions started on creating a New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps. Early in 1911, the Director of Stores title was changed to Director of Equipment and Stores, and Captain O’Sullivan was promoted to Major.
1911 Regulations (Provisional) for the Military Forces of New Zealand
Published in the New Zealand Gazette of 5 May 1911 updated Regulations (Provisional) for the Military Forces of New Zealand were promogulated detailing the division of responsibilities between the Quartermaster Generals Branch, (to whom the Defence Stores was subordinate) and the Director of Ordnance and Artillery. Note: although not yet established, responsibility for the organization and training of the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps was vested with the Director of Ordnance and Artillery.
With the continuing division of stores and duties between the Artillery and the Defence Stores Department, the Director of Artillery(Ordnance) assumed overall responsibility for managing Artillery stores on 2 August 1911. This resulted in Major O’Sullivan’s deputy, Honorary Lieutenant Frederick Silver, being formally transferred to the staff of the Director of Artillery Services (Ordnance) as the Artillery Stores Accountant along with ledgers previously held by the Defence Stores Department. In 1946 the RNZA Ammunition and Equipment Section based in Army Headquarters handed over responsibility for artillery ammunition, explosives, coast artillery and specialist equipment and stores including some manpower to the NZAOC.
Quartermaster Training
As the Defence Forces of New Zealand transitioned to the Territorial Army system, it was soon realised the care, maintenance and responsibility of equipment were lacking, and the current Regimental Quartermaster Sergeants were not up to the task, and a professional Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant cadre was required. Late in 1911, thirty young men selected from the various military districts spent three weeks at the Defence Stores Department in Wellington. Undergoing practical and theoretical instruction in the duties of the office of Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant with instruction conducted under the supervision of Major O’Sullivan, utilising the senior staff of the Defence Stores Department as instructors. The course was thorough with instruction provided by;
The Armourers provided instruction on weapon storage, inspection, maintenance and accounting,
The Saddler provided instruction on the correct storage methods, inspection and maintenance of leather items such as horse saddlery and harnesses.
The Sail-maker provided instruction on the correct methods of storage, inspection and maintenance of canvas and fabric items such as tents, other camp canvas and fabric camp equipment.
The Stores Foreman provided instruction on the Packing of stores.
The ledger-keeper provided instruction with the keeping of accounts and maintenance of documentation used throughout all the departments.
Examinations were held on the various subjects in which instruction had been given. Records show that at least 18 of the 30 candidates passed the exams successfully and were appointed Quartermaster Sergeants in the New Zealand Permanent Staff under General Order 112/10.
This course of instruction was notable as although an Army School of Instruction had been established in 1886 with Musketry courses the primary focus. Instruction in Tactics and Staff duties were also offered, but this course in the duties of Regimental Quartermaster Sergeants was probably the first dedicated stores’ trade-related course conducted in New Zealand.
Armourers
From the early day of the Defence Stores there had always been individuals fulfilling the role of Armourers, but with the advent of more modern and complicated weapons, the need for professional Armourers was identified at the end of the 19th century. To fill the immediate experience shortfall and provide experience and skill base to train New Zealand Armourers, two Armourer Sergeants from the British Army Ordnance Corps (AOC) were seconded to the New Zealand Defence Stores in 1900 with a third employed in 1903. In 1912 General Order 118 was promulgated that as of the 1st of May 1912, all Armourers were to be posted to the New Zealand Ordnance Corps, with its approved establishment detailed in the same order.
New Zealand Defence Forces General Order 118, 1 May 1912
Camp Equipment
As the Territorial Force Army became organised and exercising on a regular basis, the Defence Stores Department was starting to feel the strain of having to provide camp equipment and other stores to each camp. Although each regiment was issued with it core equipment such as weapons. Camp equipment had been centralised and was provided on request to regiments based on their perceived requirements as required, not against a set scale based on the units strength or role.
In 1911 there were 2937 tents (circular) in New Zealand, which had been in service for many years:
16 for seventeen years
311 for thirteen years,
782 for twelve years,
542 for five years, and
the balance from one to three years.
Observations by the Defence Stores Department had determined that much of the stock of tents was not suitable for future camps, The same applied for much of the inventory of Camp Equipment, meaning that insufficient tents and camp equipment were available to accommodate the entire Territorial Army if camping at once. To enable more efficient forecasting, management and distribution of camp equipment, ensuring excessive stores were not demanded by units and also to allow the Defence Stores Department to manage individual items on an Army-wide basis, the following scales were developed and introduced for use in the 1913 camps.
1913 Camp Equipment Scale
Annual Camp Temporary Ordnance Stores Depots
As the Defence Stores Department was primarily a civilian organisation with limited manpower, it was decided that for the annual camps of 1913 to test the new management system for Camp Equipment stores. Temporary Ordnance Stores Depots were established to enable the management of the stores’ functions in the lead-up to, during and after Annual Camps. The Defence Stores Department assembled stores based upon units strength and role and dispatched them to the location by train for receipt by the temporary Ordnance Stores Depots. The nucleus of these Ordnance Stores Depots was formed by the training of selected personnel from within the Territorial Army in the required store’s procedures required to control the receipt and issue of ordnance stores in the camps. As with the Training of the Regimental Quartermaster Sergeants in 1911 the selected personnel were provided with a fortnight’s course of instruction in their duties, under the Director of Equipment and Stores.
For the 1913 camps, all camp equipment was issued to the Regimental Quartermaster-sergeants direct from the temporary Ordnance Depot which had been established before the start of the camps. This negated loss by direct consignment or doubt as to quantities taken into use. On the termination of the camps, all camp equipment in use by the units assembled was returned to the temporary Ordnance Depot, and the necessary arrangements as to deficiencies made without any delay. Regimental Quartermaster-sergeants were instructed to remain on the departure of their regiments until accounts for equipment had been checked and adjusted. Camp equipment was then returned from the temporary Ordnance Depot to the regional mobilisation stores.
The establishment of the temporary Ordnance Depots for the 1913 camp was;
Ordnance officer
Two clerks
Four issuers
The temporary Ordnance Depot concept was repeated at the 1914 divisional camps with the Regional Defence Storekeepers acting as the Ordnance Officers and with an increased ordnance staff of 6 clerks and 12 issuers.
The Acid test of the temporary Ordnance Depot came within weeks of the First World War been declared in August 1914. The Defence Stores Department was at the forefront of the mobilisation efforts, supplying as much as possible for the equipping of the Expeditionary Forces. The four existing Mobilisation Stores, (Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin) were provided with additional stocks, and the additional Mobilisation Store that was established in Palmerston North was also provisioned to enable it to carry out its role. By 1916 storage space and manpower was at a premium and Finance was approved to extend the Defence Stores building in Buckle Street and additional storage space had been leased at Te Aro, Taranaki Street and the Wellington docks.
1914 Regulations for the Military Forces of the Dominion of New Zealand
Published in the New Zealand Gazette of 27 January 1914, the updated Regulations for the Military Forces of the Dominion of New Zealand revoked the 1911 regulations and again detailed the division of responsibilities between the Quartermaster Generals Branch, (to whom the Defence Stores was subordinate) and the Director of Ordnance and Artillery. Responsibility for the organization and training of the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps was shifted from the Director of Ordnance to the Quartermaster Generals branch.
The move to militarisation
The Director of Stores assumed the military designation of Director of Equipment and Ordnance Stores in 1916, and the District Storekeepers were designated “Assistant Directors of Equipment and Ordnance Stores.” On 8 April 1916, Captain Thomas McCristell the Trentham Camp Quartermaster was appointed to succeed Major O’Sullivan as Director of Equipment and Ordnance Stores. Major O’Sullivan moved on to the role of Inspector of Ordnance Stores.
Major Thomas James McCristell, Director of Equipment and Ordnance Stores, 10 April 1916 – 20 January 1920.
The formation of an Ordnance Corps had been under discussion as early as 1902 with little forward momentum apart from the establishment of the New Zealand Ordnance Corps to manage Armourers in 1912 and the Temporary Ordnance Depots in 1913 and 1914. Given the work of the Defence Stores Department since the start of the war, a vast improvement was noticeable in the methods of accounting, care and custody of arms, equipment, and stores throughout New Zealand. As of March 1916, the civilian staff of the Defence Stores Department consisted of :
Auckland
Honorary Captain W.T Beck. DSO – Assistant Director of Equipment and Ordnance Stores
A.C Bulter – Storeman
J Maher – Arms-cleaner
F Jewiss – Arms-cleaner and Labourer
E Key – Labourer
R.J Felton – Assistant Ammunition Factory
B.E Lambert – Assistant Ammunition Factory
Wellington
Honorary Captain F.E Ford – Assistant Director of Equipment and Ordnance Stores
D McIntyre – Foreman
W.W Dalby – Storeman
A.P Williams – Shorthand-writer and Typist
R.A.C Frederic – Magazine Keeper, Kaiwara
J.A Sloane – AssistantvMagazine Keeper, Kaiwara
H McComish – Saddler
J Hunter – Carpenter
H.A Stephens – Sailmaker and Tentmaker
D Fitzgerald – Arms-cleaner and Labourer\
J Monahan – Arms-cleaner and Labourer
Christchurch
Honorary Captain A.R.C White – Assistant Director of Equipment and Ordnance Stores
H.F McKay – StoreKeeper Assistant
T Riordan -Magazine Keeper
H.T Rodgers -Saddler
Dunedin
Honorary Captain O.P McGuigan – Assistant Director of Equipment and Ordnance Stores
J Woods – StoreKeeper Assistant
W Sanderson – StoreKeeper Assistant
Ordnance Corps
As of 1 February 1917, the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps (NZAOC) and the New Zealand Army Ordnance Department (NZAOD) were gazetted, replacing the Defence Stores Department.
The first soldiers of various trades and ranks who joined the NZAOC were transferred from the Permanent Forces on the 15th of March 1917, with Defence Stores Department civilian Staff who had been selected for militarisation, starting to transfer into the NZAOC on July 1917. This placed the Defence Stores staff who were handling military equipment and stores in the districts and training camps onto a military footing.
The Defence Stores Department had served the Defence Forces as a mostly civilian government department since 1862, and the abnormality of having civilians in the army who are really outside it and are not subject to military discipline and control ended. Defence Stores staff and others doing the same work in the districts have been under the control of the Public Service, wore civilian clothes and now had purely military status, and wore uniforms as members of the NZAOC.
NZ Army Ordnance Corps badge 1917-1937. Robert McKie Collection
On 1 September 1946 the MT Workshops, Ordnance Workshops and Armourers Workshops combined to form the New Zealand Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. The MT Stores would transfer to NZAOC control, becoming workshops stores sections in later years.
Reorganisation of the NZAOC
Combining of Regular and Non-Regular Forces
During the year the distinction between Regular and non-Regular soldiers which had been in place since the Defence Act of 1909 was removed. The New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps would now be comprised of both Regular and non-Regular personnel from The New Zealand Ordnance Corps (NZOC), The NZOC had been constituted as a stand-alone Corps of the Territorial Army in December 1940 and had been in suspension since 1944.
NZAOC Stores
The NZAOC Stores Depots were located at the following locations, the Major change in this period was the handing over of Sylvia Park by the US Forces to the NZ Army;
Trentham
Main Ordnance Depot, including
Bulk Stores Sub Depots, at
Gracefield, Lower Hutt.
Linton Camp until 30 Sept 46
Waiouru Camp until 30 Sept 46
HQ Ammunition Group, with sections at
Belmont,
Moko Moko,
Kuku Valley,
Waiouru.
Auckland
Vehicle Depot, Sylvia Park,
Ammunition Magazines at Ardmore.
Ngaruawahia
No 1 Ordnance Depot,
Ammunition Magazines at Kelms Road.
Linton Camp
On 1 October 1946 the Main Ordnance Depot, Linton Sub Depot was reorganised into an independent Ordnance Depot to be known as No 2 Ordnance Depot.
No 2 Ordnance Depot would also assume responsibility for the Waiouru Sub Depot.
Burnham
No 3 Ordnance Depot
Ammunition magazines at
Alexandra,
Fairlie,
Glen Tunnel,
Mount Somers.
All NZAOC establishments were fully occupied in consolidating and maintaining stocks and in the disposal of substantial surplus holdings through War Assets Realization Board.
Considerable shipments of clothing, necessaries, and barrack stores were made to B.C.0.F. in Japan were made during the year.
The following transactions were recorded for the year:
Receipts – No less than 536,355
Issues – 665,953.
At all depots suffered from severe shortages of personnel, which prevented preservation work on much of the valuable equipment held, resulting in avoidable deterioration, mainly where the material was stored in the open.
Surplus Stores
The total value of disposals amounted to £790000 (2017 NZD$64,526,315.79) distributed as follows
UNRRA, CORSO, and overseas relief – £68,000 (2017 NZD$5,554,163.89)
Other overseas – £190,000 (2017 NZD$15,518,987.34)
Goods sold in New Zealand/ transferred to the Defence Services Provision Office for overseas disposal. £532,000 (2017 NZD$43,453,164.56)
Ammunition
The Inspecting Ordnance Officers Group was employed on the inspection and repair of ammunition and explosive stores and the disposal of unserviceable and unsafe stores, including the disposal of chemical-warfare weapons by dumping at sea during October 1946. Some 1500 tons of 25 pounder chemical shells and 20 tons of bombs were taken to a point 50 nautical miles off Pencarrow Head near Wellington by the Marine Department steamer Matai and dumped. The latter project was completed, but other activities were hampered by shortages of staff.
Medical Stores
From 1 April 1947, the responsibility for medical stores was resumed by the Chief Ordnance Officer. Due to the expansion of the New Zealand Forces for home defence and overseas the responsibility for medical stores was transferred from the NZAOC to a standalone organisation in November 1940.
Under the wartime organisation, a large warehouse in Wellington was taken over as the Main Medical Stores Depot, with sub-depots at Christchurch and Auckland, and a reserve depot at Palmerston North.
J Force
In November 1946, 4 New Zealand Base Ordnance Depot was renamed to 4 New Zealand Advanced Ordnance Depot.
London Victory Celebrations of 1946
The London Victory Celebrations of 1946 were British Commonwealth, Empire and Allied victory celebrations held on 8 June 1946 to commemorate the defeat of Nazi Germany and Japan in World War II. New Zealand provided a contingent of 300 members and former members of the armed forces with 150 from the Army, 100 from the RNZAF and 50 from the RNZN. The New Zealand contingent also included women from all the services.
The NZAOC was represented on the parade by;
Lieutenant Colonel John Owen Kelsey, MBE, MID
Sergeant Bernard Foster,
Corporal Ronald Dawson Briggs
Presentation on New Zealand Ordnance in the Pacific
In April 1947, Mr Bernard Ewart Woodhams, formerly of the Ordnance Coprs recounted to the Hamilton Rotary Club some of the problems which had been faced in supplying the 3rd New Zealand Division during the Pacific campaign.
In the first major campaign ever to take place in the Pacific, lack of port facilities, the effect of the climatic conditions and the great amount of handling required were responsible for great difficulty in the distribution of supplies, said Mr Woodhams. The Ordnance Corps had been responsible for the supply and maintenance of most of the stores used by the division. Although it worked in the background the corps was an important force in the military set-up. Giving a review of the campaign, Mr Woodhams said after some months in New Caledonia the division moved on to Guadalcanal and much work was involved in the transfer of 12,000 troops, vehicles and supplies to the new area. The materials for supply and maintenance were mainly supplied from New Zealand. In his opinion, the supply of the New Zealand troops would have been much easier if American equipment had been used.
The New Zealand force was operating among the Americans and because the division had British equipment supplies had to be indented in New Zealand. The division had to take its own ammunition everywhere it went. The American supply system was amazing, said’ Mr Woodhams. When the New, Zealanders landed at Noumea there were about 80 American ships in the harbour with supplies for their forces. As an illustration of the efficiency of American logistics, Mr Woodhams said that a special issue of shirts, trousers and belts was to be made to the 15,000′ New Zealand troops. When the order was placed the American officer asked the New Zealander to call for the supplies the following morning.
Speaking of the effect of the climate on equipment, Mr Woodhams said that the life of a tent under combat conditions was about three months. A type of fungus grew on the lenses of binoculars and other optical equipment. Radio sets used by the division were difficult to maintain, certain standard types being practically useless in the jungle. A species of insect was notorious for boring into the rifling of the barrels of rifles. Because of this pest troops not immediately in action were allowed to grease barrels and cover the muzzles.
When the troops were due to return to the Dominion, 22,000 battledresses and greatcoats were required to replace the tropical, issue, said Mr Woodhams. In addition to issuing and storing equipment, the maintenance of gear imposed a great strain on the organisation. On one occasion 20,000 blankets had to be washed and packed before being returned to the Dominion. Half a ton of soap powder was used to do the job. Two football fields made an unusual sight absolutely covered with lines hearing the drying blankets. In all 11,000 tons of ammunition had to be brought back. As the troops had carried their own rifles and webbing equipment on the outward trip the Ordnance Corps was responsible for the return of this gear. There were no cases for the packing of the rifles, so the timber had to be cut and boxes made.
This article covers the activity’s of the NZAOC from June 1945 to 1946.
With the Second World War concluded by the Japanese surrender in September 1945, the 2NZEF in Italy had demobilised, with elements redeploying in January 1946 to Japan as “Jayforce” the New Zealand’s contribution to the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces in Japan. In New Zealand NZAOC units had been fully occupied with:
The consolidation, classification, and maintenance of the large stocks accumulated post-war,
The transfer and receipt of stock into Ordnance Depots as rented accommodation was vacated
providing support to BCOF.
In New Zealand, the postwar strength of the Regular Force was 144 officers and 400 other ranks. Of the 400 other ranks, 131 held temporary or N.Z.E.F. commissions. The May 1946 strength of the NZAOC against the approved 1939 establishment was :
Officers ;
Present Strength – 9
Establishment – 20
Other Ranks;
Present Strength.
Temporary Commissions – 12
Other ranks – 31
Establishment
Quartermaster Commissions – 2
Other ranks – 83
NZAOC Officer and Officers holding Ordnance Appointments
DQMG2 – Lieutenant Colonel (temp.) C. S. J. Duff, D.S.O., R.N.Z.A
Chief Ordnance Officer – Lieutenant Colonel (temp.) E. L. G Brown, O.B.E., N.Z.S.C
Ordnance Officer Main Ordnance Depot – Lieutenant Colonel (temp.) E. L. G Brown, O.B.E., N.Z.S.C
Ordnance Officer No 1 Ordnance Depot – Major D.L Lewis, NZAOC (also Commandant Ngaruawahia Military Camp)
Ordnance Officer No 2 Ordnance Depot – Captian W.S.Keegan, NZAOC (disbanded 1 Dec 1945)
Officer No 3 Ordnance Depot – Major Reid, NZAOC
NZAOC Stores
The NZAOC Stores Depots were located at the following locations;
Trentham
Main Ordnance Depot, including
Bulk Stores Sub Depots, at
Mangere,
Linton, and
Gracefield, Lower Hutt
From September 1945 Storage capacity at Trentham was increased with the relocation of five warehouses that had been constructed for the United States Forces at Waterloo. The first warehouse had been reassembled in early September with the follow-on buildings re-erected at a rate of one per month, with all construction completed by February 1946
Artillery Sub Depot at Waiouru
HQ Ammunition Group, with sections at
Belmont,
Moko Moko,
Kuku Valley,
Waiouru.
Main Ordnance Workshop
Main Ordnance Depot, Trentham Camp – 1945
Auckland
Ammunition Magazines at Ardmore.
Ngaruawahia
No 1 Ordnance Sub Depot
Ammunition Magazines at Kelms Road
Palmerston North
No 2 Ordnance Sub Depot. Ceased to function 1 December 1945, All issues for the Central Military District were made from the Main Ordnance Depot, Trentham
Burnham
No 3 Ordnance Sub Depot
Ammunition magazines at
Alexandra
Fairlie
Glen Tunnel
Mount Somers
No 14 Ordnance Workshop,
The total storage space (including magazine accommodation) now occupied by the NZAOC was 1,349,488 square feet (411323.95 Sq Mtrs). This was suitable for most requirements except there was still a significant amount of equipment stored in the open at Waiouru Camp and in accommodation such as mess-rooms, barrack-rooms, and institutes at Waiouru and Linton. It was anticipated that this material would be stored under cover once Sylvia Park was made available by the United States Forces.
All rented storage space occupied at the commencement of the year had been vacated. Stores released include;
Auckland;
Federal Street (Clothing Store),
Mills Lane Boot Store, Auckland,
Glide Rink, Auckland.
Pukekohe
Showgrounds.
Wanganui
Farmers’Co-operative Building,
Thanes Building,
Horsley’s Garage.
Wellington;
Taranaki Street (Bulk Store),
Todd Motors (Clothing Bulk Store).
Christchurch
Victoria Street,
New Zealand Railways Building (Clothing Bulk Store),
Moorhouse Avenue.
Dunedin;
Briscoe’s Building (Clothing Bulk Store),
Otago Steam Laundry (Overseas Bulk Store).
Soon after the cessation of hostilities, all outstanding orders placed overseas were reviewed and where the necessary action was taken to cancel, except where items were required to complete equipment’s already in the country and for the maintenance and modification of stores. The following table of yearly requisition values illustrates how these demands were equated to the war situation :
NZAOC Workshops alongside the Motor Transport Branch(MT Branch) continued to undertake work of a general nature with all workshops been fairly heavy, in spite of the closing down of units. The bulk of the work carried out was the overhaul and repair of stores returned by units and the inspection and dismantling of stores for disposal by War Assets Realization Board.
At the start of 1945 there was;
Three Ordnance Workshops
Main Ordnance Workshop, Trentham
12 Ordnance Workshop, Devonport
14 Ordnance Workshop, Burnham
Nine MT Workshops
1 MT Workshop, Trentham
2 MT Workshop, Waiouru
3 MT Workshop, Papakura
4 MT Workshop, Palmerston North
5 MT Workshop, Burnham
7 MT Workshop, Wellington
Five MT Depots
1 MT Depot, Auckland
2 MT Depot, Hamilton
3 MT Depot, Napier
4 MT Depot, Whanganui
5 MT Depot, Christchurch
Four MT Stores
1 Base MT Stores, Trentham
2 Advanced MT Stores, Papakura
3 Advanced MT Stores, Palmerston North
4 Advanced MT Stores, Burnham
Surplus Stores
Disposals of surplus stores continued to be carried out, with further considerable surpluses declared to the War Assets Realization Board and held pending disposal instructions.
Ammunition
Until 1946, the Royal New Zealand Artillery (RNZA) managed ammunition, explosives, Coast Artillery stores, and specialist equipment through the Ammunition and Equipment Section at Army Headquarters. Over the course of that year, this responsibility—together with some personnel—was transferred to the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps (NZAOC).
The Inspecting Ordnance Officer’s Branch continued to inspect ammunition of all calibres, classify it, service it where required, and prepare it for long-term storage.
In April 1946, approximately 200 tons of chemical shells were disposed of at sea. Loaded at Auckland onto the hulk Rosomund, the shells were towed by the tug Maui Pomare to the 100-fathom line in the Hauraki Gulf and scuttled.
.
Inspection Ordnance Officers Course
In December 1945, the results for No. 2 Course of Instruction—Inspection Ordnance Officers—were published. Of the thirty-five officers and other ranks who sat the written examination, eighteen achieved the qualifying mark of 50 per cent or better. Twelve officers were duly appointed as Inspection Ordnance Officers (IOO); from the ranks, two Warrant Officers Class I, a Staff Sergeant, a Sergeant, a Corporal, and a Private qualified as Ammunition Examiners (AE). In 1961, these trades were reclassified as Ammunition Technical Officer (ATO) and Ammunition Technician (AT), respectively.
Accidents
Privates Sedrick Montague Cameron and Trevor Ronald Beach were killed when a truck from the Trentham Ordnance Depot crashed over a 400 ft bank into the Belmont Stream, at the Belmont Ammunition Depot. Fifteen other occupants escaped with light injuries and bruises, including;
Corporal N. A. Prier
Sergeant T. A. Claridge
Corporal W. M. Hugh
Corporal J, R. Parker
Private V. E. Nicholas
Private J. A. Hockly,
Ordnance in Support of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Assistant Director of Ordnance Services
Lieutenant-Colonel J. O. Kelsey, MBE
Divisional Ordnance Field Park
Officer Commanding, Major H. L. McLaren
Mobile Laundry and Bath Unit
Officer Commanding, Captian I Bell
NZEF Ordnance units consisted of;
Office of the ADOS 2NZEF, Formed 2 June 1945 – Disbanded 1 September 1945
No 1 Base Ordnance Depot, Maadi Camp Egypt – Disbanded February 1946
No 2 New Zealand Base Ordnance Depot, Bari, Disbanded 30 November 1945
2 NZ Division Ordnance Field Park OFP – Disbanded 29 December 1945
MZ Mobile Laundry and Bath Unit – Disbanded 8 December 1945
NZ Vehicle and Stores Reception Depot – Formed 27 October 1945 – Disbanded January 1946
Vehicle Depot, Assisi
Stores Depot, Perugia
NZ Advanced Ordnance Depot Formed 27 Oct 1945 – Disbanded 1 February 1946
NZEF (Japan)
On 12 March 1946, Major R. G. A. Arnell was named as the Officer Commanding of the Ordnance Depot to support the New New Zealand Brigade Group, which was on its way to Japan from Italy.
NZEF (Fiji)
Major G. Prentice, N.Z.P.S, the Senior Ordnance stationed as part of the 2nd NZEF in Fiji returned to New Zealand in May 1946.
The Palmerston North Showgrounds served as a military facility throughout the Second World War, hosting a succession of units across its wartime life. Its most famous occupants were the Māori Battalion, who conducted their initial assembly and training there, but the Showgrounds also accommodated the Manawatu Mounted Rifles, HQ 2 Brigade, HQ 4 Division, and 2 ASC Company. This article focuses on one of the Showgrounds’ lesser-known occupants — No 2 Sub Depot, NZAOC — which operated from the site between 1942 and December 1945, sustaining military units across the lower North Island during the most demanding years of the war.
The wartime NZAOC
During the Second World War, the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps (NZAOC) efficiently organised its supply functions within the country. The central hub of this During the Second World War, the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps organised its home-service supply functions through the Main Ordnance Depot at Trentham, which oversaw a network of subordinate units positioned across the country. These included:
HQ Ammunition Section at Belmont
Ammunition Sections at Makomako and Waiouru
Bulk Stores at Linton and Mangere
Artillery Sub Depot at Waiouru
Inspection Ordnance Officer Section in the Central Military District, Palmerston North
Ammunition Repair Depot in Kuku Valley
Ordnance Sub Depots were also established in each military district:
Northern Military District — No 1 Sub Depot at Hopuhopu Military Camp
Central Military District — No 2 Sub Depot at the Palmerston North Showgrounds
Southern Military District — No 3 Sub Depot at Burnham Camp
(Note: Until 20 August 1942, these were known as District Ordnance Depots — Northern, Central, and Southern — before being redesignated as numbered Sub Depots.)
At the outbreak of war, the Northern and Southern District Ordnance Depots were well-established. The Northern Depot at Hopuhopu had been commissioned in 1927 as a purpose-built ordnance facility. The Southern Depot at Burnham, established in 1921, had been substantially upgraded in the early 1940s to meet wartime demands.
The position in the Central Military District was different. While records show a Palmerston North Ordnance Detachment during the First World War, there is limited evidence of a sustained ordnance presence in Palmerston North during the interwar years. In the interests of economy, logistical support to units in the lower North Island had been provided directly from Trentham.
Upon the mobilisation of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Home Defence Forces, and Territorial Forces, the need for a Central Districts depot became unavoidable. In early 1942, the Central Districts Ordnance Depot was established at the Palmerston North Showgrounds, with Lieutenant William Saul Keegan of the New Zealand Temporary Staff appointed as Ordnance Officer for the Central Military District and Officer Commanding the Palmerston North Detachment. His appointment took effect on 1 March 1942.
The Palmerston North Showgrounds
The choice of the Showgrounds as the depot’s location was well-considered. Situated on the block bounded by Featherston, Waldegrave, Pascal, and Cuba Streets, the site lay immediately adjacent to the Palmerston North Railway yards — then located in what is now the Railway Reserve on Pioneer Highway. This position gave the depot direct access to rail links connecting it to the Main Ordnance Depot at Trentham and to suppliers across the country, while road connections allowed distribution to subordinate units throughout the lower North Island.
The Showgrounds offered some of the largest covered spaces available in the region. Five interconnected exhibition halls under a single roof provided substantial storage capacity, with additional hardstanding available for vehicles and bulk defence stores. As other units arrived, facilities including cookhouses, dining halls, accommodation huts, tents, and ablutions were progressively established across the site.
In the early war years, military occupation was treated as a temporary arrangement and the Manawatu Agricultural and Pastoral Association retained partial use of the facility. As the threat from Japan became acute in late 1941, a decision was made to allocate the Showgrounds exclusively to the military for the duration of the conflict.
Palmerston North Showgrounds, Cuba Street, 1939. Palmerston North Libraries and Community Services
No 2 Sub Depot
Following redesignation on 20 August 1942, the Central Districts Ordnance Depot became No 2 Sub Depot. The depot occupied the Waldegrave Street side of the Showgrounds, with each of the five interconnected halls assigned to specific storage functions:
Hall 1: Clothing — boots, tunics, greatcoats, underwear, and related items
Hall 2: Tools, spare parts, and expendable stores — hardware, nails, wire, rope, paint, thinners, and linseed oil, in quantities that reputedly exceeded the combined stock of all merchants in Palmerston North
Hall 3: Camp fittings, crockery, cutlery, sheets, blankets, and household linens, numbered in the thousands
Halls 4 and 5: General Army equipment, including rifles and machine-guns
Flammable materials — paints, turpentine, and kerosene — were initially stored within the main buildings. In 1943 dedicated storage structures with concrete floors and iron walls and roofs were provided, reducing the fire risk within the halls.
Explosives and ammunition were also held at the Showgrounds until 1943, when the completion of the Makomako ammunition area allowed their transfer. With buildings frequently filled to capacity — stock sometimes stacked to the ceilings — two nightwatchmen were employed to provide security and act as a fire picket during nighttime hours. Fire safety was taken seriously: regular inspections were conducted in coordination with the Palmerston North Fire Brigade, and the depot maintained a stock of buckets, bucket pumps, hoses, and fire extinguishers. Flammable goods were stored between non-flammable items to create firebreaks. Despite this, the Brigade considered the measures sufficient and did not require an automatic alarm system to be installed — a decision that would have unforeseen consequences.
Beyond the Showgrounds, No 2 Sub Depot maintained overflow accommodation including Part Worn Clothing stores in Rangitikei and Church Streets, and engineer dumps at two Fielding locations.
By the end of December 1944, the total value of stock held at the depot was estimated at £1,100,000, equivalent to approximately NZ$90 million in current values.
Depot Establishment
When formally constituted on 17 August 1942, No 2 Sub Depot was established with a complement of three officers and 81 other ranks, organised across stores, clerical, and support functions.
Owing to wartime manpower pressures, the posted strength of the depot never reached its full establishment. The competing demands of the 2nd NZEF and Home Defence Forces meant that units in New Zealand consistently operated with fewer personnel than authorised.
February 1943 — The Unit Photograph
By February 1943, the posted strength of No 2 Sub Depot stood at one officer and 66 other ranks. The group photograph taken on 8 February 1943 provides a remarkable record of the unit at this point in its development.
The photograph shows 64 personnel, with three further members recorded as absent. The complete roll therefore accounts for 67 personnel — one officer and 66 other ranks — precisely matching the posted strength for that month. The officer seated near the centre of the third row is Captain William Saul Keegan, Officer Commanding No 2 Sub Depot and Ordnance Officer for the Central Military District. Keegan had commanded the Palmerston North ordnance establishment since 1 March 1942 and remained central to its operation throughout the war.
The presence of two members of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps — J. B. Chapman and M. J. Nix, identifiable in the third row — reflects the essential contribution made by women to the administrative and logistical work of the wartime ordnance organisation at a time when manpower shortages made their service indispensable.
Beyond recording names, the photograph captures the depot at an important stage in its development. No 2 Sub Depot had been formally constituted only six months earlier. From the Palmerston North Showgrounds, this comparatively small group was responsible for receiving, storing, and distributing an extensive range of clothing, equipment, tools, weapons, camp stores, and general supplies across the entire Central Military District. The photograph is not merely a record of individuals — it identifies the men and women whose daily work sustained military units throughout the lower North Island during one of the most demanding periods of the Second World War.
Back row, left to right: Pte J. S. Carswell; Pte W. L. Wackrow; Pte M. G. Kensington; Pte F. Manning; Pte W. W. Mitchell; Pte J. W. Ridley; Pte J. Kearns; Pte C. L. Revell; Pte A. F. Picken; Pte C. B. Weeks; Pte E. F. Homer; Pte C. M. Harper; Pte E. A. Morgan; Pte J. H. Cope.
Second row, left to right: Pte J. A. Alderson; L/Cpl D. A. Lloyd; L/Cpl D. T. Spring; Pte J. T. Bright; Pte K. K. Cutfield; Pte W. J. Welsh; Pte F. B. Spielman; Pte J. W. Marriott; Pte H. T. Guthrie; Pte K. M. Garner; Pte J. C. Pegden; Pte D. H. Looney; Pte W. A. Newlands; Pte J. J. Richardson; Pte C. Barr; Pte M. J. Curran; Pte J. E. McKinley; Pte D. W. McLennan.
Third row, left to right: L/Cpl K. L. Collinson; Pte B. P. Trehey; WAAC J. B. Chapman; L/Cpl H. A. Reeves; L/Cpl K. W. Parker; L/Cpl M. A. Ongley; Sgt W. J. Carson; Sgt J. F. Fowlds; Captain W. S. Keegan; Sgt W. H. Jones; Sgt A. J. Fraser; L/Cpl A. McKinley; L/Cpl I. B. Smith; L/Cpl G. F. Hall; WAAC M. J. Nix; Pte W. M. Miller; L/Cpl W. H. Kempthorne.
Front row, left to right: L/Cpl J. Rodgers; Pte L. G. Dovey; Pte O. W. Gillion; Pte L. H. Steele; Pte N. G. Donaldson; Pte J. E. A. Pouple; Pte F. E. Price; Pte H. K. Snell; Pte G. Edmonds; Pte P. W. Comber; Pte H. R. Childs; Pte W. E. Norris; Pte W. J. Broughton; L/Cpl L. S. Goss; Pte A. L. Harris.
Absent: L/Cpl E. G. Kinzett; Pte J. T. Allen; Pte E. W. Clarke.
Expansion — October 1943 to February 1944
As wartime demand increased, the depot’s establishment grew. By 30 October 1943, it had risen to three officers and 95 other ranks, with a posted strength of two officers and 88 other ranks.
On 1 November 1943 the establishment was revised to three officers and 92 other ranks.
By 29 February 1944, the posted strength stood at two officers and 83 other ranks.
No 2 Ordnance Sub Depot. Group of soldiers – Elmar Studios, 459 Main Street, Palmerston North circa 1942 to circa 1945, No Known Restrictions
The Fire — 31 December 1944
On the evening of 31 December 1944, the superintendent of the Palmerston North Fire Brigade, Mr Milverton, was tracing faults in the city’s general fire alarm system. The fault led him to the Showgrounds, where he determined that vibrations from heavy motor traffic were causing false activations on the loop serving the site. As a temporary measure, he disconnected the Showgrounds loop from the alarm system, marked the alarm boxes as out of order, and informed the military authorities.
At approximately 9.30 pm, Sergeant W. C. Luffman, the Senior NCO of the Showgrounds guard, completed his patrol and found nothing unusual. During his next patrol at 10.30 pm, he discovered the cookhouse copper empty and red-hot, with the gas flame still burning beneath it and a piece of wall timber alight. Luffman turned off the gas, returned to the main gate, and with Private Wagstaff used a stirrup pump to extinguish the burning timber. After confirming the fire was out, Wagstaff filled the copper with cold water, checked the surrounding ironwork, confirmed it was cool, refilled the stirrup pump, and left it beside the copper as a precaution.
At 11.35 pm, Privates Wagstaff and Collins — the Ordnance night watchman — were directed to inspect the wall of the adjacent Ordnance Store, opposite where the earlier fire had occurred. Luffman returned to the kitchen, found everything in order, and returned to the guard house at approximately 11.55 pm.
Shortly before midnight, Luffman noticed a glow in the sky near the Ordnance Depot. He went immediately to the guard house telephone to call the Fire Brigade. There was no response — the Showgrounds alarm connection had been disconnected earlier that evening. Local residents had already spotted the fire and raised the alarm independently. Luffman heard the fire engines approaching before he could make contact.
On arrival, firefighters found the building adjoining the cookhouse — the Ordnance Store — fully alight, with flames breaking through the roof. Three motor engines attended. It was not until midday on New Year’s Day that the last embers were finally extinguished.
The row of six private dwellings on Waldegrave Street, which backed directly onto the Showgrounds, was saved, though it required substantial water to prevent the fire spreading to them. The A&P Association’s administrative offices were also preserved. Halls 1, 2, and 3 were destroyed. Halls 4 and 5 survived. It was, at that time, the largest fire the Palmerston North Fire Brigade had ever fought.
The aftermath of Dec 1944 Showground fire. Evening Post
Aftermath and Inquiry
An inquiry was conducted in March 1945 by Captain Keegan as the officer responsible for the depot. The estimated loss from the fire was £225,700, equivalent to approximately NZ$18.6 million in current values. Keegan noted that a significant portion of the stock had been salvaged, and that while substantial quantities of clothing and general stores were destroyed, the losses were not as catastrophic as the scale of the fire initially suggested.
One specific claim warrants attention. A belief has persisted in some accounts that the majority of Charlton automatic rifles held at Palmerston North were destroyed in the fire. The contemporary record does not support this. Keegan’s testimony to the inquiry does not identify Charlton rifles as a significant component of the fire losses, and the enduring claim appears to derive from later secondary accounts rather than from the inquiry itself.
Initial suspicion that the fire might have been set deliberately to conceal thefts from the depot was examined and dismissed. Keegan presented detailed accounting evidence showing that over the depot’s two years and nine months of operation, thefts and losses from all sources totalled only £627 — approximately NZ$52,000 in current values. During the same period, surpluses valued at £1,600 were identified, meaning the depot had actually over-accounted for stock rather than under-accounted. There was no financial motive consistent with deliberate arson.
Detective F. Quin of the New Zealand Police testified to extensive investigations into the fire’s cause. No evidence of sabotage, incendiary devices, or external interference was found. The individual who had left the cookhouse copper running unattended could not be identified.
The timing, though devastating in terms of materiel loss, was fortunate in one respect. By December 1944 the threat of invasion had passed, the Home Guard had been stood down, and the bulk of Territorial and Home Defence forces had been demobilised. The military capacity of the depot had already contracted from its wartime peak, and the loss of the stores had limited impact on ongoing operations.
Post War Reorganisation
No 2 Sub Depot continued operating from the Palmerston North Showgrounds following the fire, drawing on replacement stock and the surviving halls. Its functions were transferred to the Main Ordnance Depot at Trentham on 14 December 1945, marking the end of the Showgrounds’ wartime ordnance role.
The New Zealand Government had acquired land at Linton in October 1941 for a military camp, with the first units taking occupation in February 1942. The Main Ordnance Depot had established a satellite Bulk Store at Linton early in the camp’s life, operating independently of No 2 Sub Depot and serving the logistical needs of units based there.
Reestablishment at Linton
On 1 October 1946, the Linton Bulk Store was formally redesignated as No 2 Ordnance Depot. The new unit assumed responsibility for units stationed in the Linton area and also took on oversight of Main Ordnance Depot sub-units at Waiouru Camp.
Over the following five decades, the depot at Linton continued as the enduring ordnance and logistics unit in the camp, undergoing a succession of redesignations as the Army’s structure evolved:
Central Districts Ordnance Depot: 1948–1968
2 Central Ordnance Depot: 1968–1979
2 Supply Company: 1979–1985
5 Composite Supply Company: 1985–1990
21 Field Supply Company: 1990–1996
Today the unit continues as 21 Supply Company within the Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment — the longest-standing resident unit in Linton Camp, a distinction it has held continuously since 1942.
Ordnance Depots in the New Zealand Army had a reasonably well-recorded history from the late 1920s when they were maintained in Trentham (The central depot), Ngaruawahia, Linton and later Waiouru in the North Island and Burnham in the South Island. These depots served the Army through the fiscally challenged 1930s, the war years through to the 1990s. Falling victim to progress, including the introduction of computerised systems, which allowed many supplies to be sourced by units directly from commercial suppliers, and the converting of military posts due to the international Tail to Teeth doctrinal trend. Depots were stripped of military manpower and traditional functions, leading to the full commercialisation of some and the shrinking of the regional Depots to mere shadows of what they were in their heyday.
The forgotten early days of New Zealand Ordnance
Before the formation of the Ordnance Corps in 1917, responsibility for the provision of Ordnance stores was shared between the Staff of the Permanent Forces and the Civil Service-run Defence Stores Department, with the Defence Stores Department having Mobilisation Stores at:
Mount Eden in Auckland
Alexandra Barracks, Mount Cook, Wellington
King Edward Barracks, Christchurch
St Andrews St, Dunedin
Defence Stores, Bunny Street, Wellington. Goggle Maps/Public DomainDunedin Mobilisation Stores, 211 St Andrews Street, Dunedin. Google Maps/ Public DomainKing Edward Barracks, Christchurch. Christchurch Public Library
Although discussed as early as 1902, New Zealand did not make substantial moves to creating an Ordnance Corps until 1912, when a small cadre of officers and men were trained in providing Ordnance services for the 1913 and 1914 annual camps. (2 Clerks and 4 Issuers in 1913, 6 Clerks and 12 issuers in 1914)
There is some evidence suggesting that as a result of the lessons learnt during the 1913 and 14 annual camps, a nascent Ordnance Corps was established. This hypothesis is supported by the New Zealand Defence Forces Annual Report for the Period 1 July 1922 to 30 June 1923, which shows that as at 30 June 1914, there were 14 Other Ranks in the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps.
The comparative strength of NZ Permanent Forces. New Zealand Defence Forces Annual Report for the Period 1 July 1922 to 30 June 1923
With war declared in August 1914 and mobilisation and equipping of the force the priority, the formation of an Ordnance Corps was most likely put on hold until the timing was right. Although no Ordnance Corps was formed, Ordnance Depots were still created to manage the stores required for the mobilisation, these were operated by a combination of staff from the civil service-run Defence Stores Department and individual soldiers seconded from military units (most likely the individuals trained in Ordnance duties for the annual camps).
An example of this is Norman Levien, who in Oct 1914 enlisted into the Auckland Regiment and was then transferred into Ordnance as a temporary Sergeant as the IC of Stores and Equipment. Embarking with the main body and serving with the NZEF for the duration of the war, Levien later became a Major and the Chief Ordnance Officer in the NZAOC in the UK.
Initially, the original Ordnance Depots were operating in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, with Featherson and Palmerston North added as the training tempo increased. Their existence is mostly forgotten, with few, if any, records remaining. Fortunately, an article in the January 1972 issue of the RNZAOC Pataka Magazine May 1972 describes in some detail the discovery in the 3 Supply Company strong room of an old ledger book from 1917, and the article describes some of the items and locations that items were issued to.
The following has been copied from the original 1972 Pataka magazine article.
Annals from a forgotten Ordnance Depot (Author unknown)
An old and battered ledger
An old and battered ledger, lying obscurely in a dim corner of the Depot strong room, catches the eye. Accustomed the drab and shoddy stationary of the present day, as we are, the magnificence of the old book stands out. The thick, leather covered binding in brown, blue and rich maroon with gilt linings, covers vast pages of smooth lined paper.
Battered and subjected to decades of dust, it is still impressive. Made in the age of the Czars and gas lit trains it has survived, redundant, like a pensioner, into the time of computers and commissars.
Sadly but inevitably many of its pages have been thoughtlessly ripped out to serve some temporary purposes. Thus its record of clothing transactions in a forgotten Ordnance Depot is like an old man’s memory – not like it use to be.
1917 – and all that
The volume opens onto the glorious first of June, 1917. World War 1 then was only but 18 months to run, though nobody could have realised it. In fact at that time the tide seemed to be running in favour of Germany and the decrepit powers bobbing about in her turbulent wake – Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria. The USA came into the war in 1917, but, being unprepared tool little toll of Germany until the following year. In 1917 the U-Boats came close to knocking Britain out of the war by reducing stocks of food and war materials to some 2 weeks reserve. In one week of that year the writers grandmother was reduced to feeding her family on turnips boiled with sugar. Old Russia was about to collapse that year from the combined effects of hunger and the terrible casualties sustained in three years of war along a vast front. Organised for the 18th century, her structure could not sustain a 20th-century war. This collapse gave Germany relief of fighting on one front and bringing her eastern armies across to join the western ones. The combatant on the western front were by this time like punch-drunk boxers, trading senseless blows each day, each blow represented by hundreds even thousands of lives. Such losses were born to gain a few yards of territory either way, maybe up to a quarter mile of shell-pocked mud and soggy trenches. The most expensive winding strip running from the North Sea across France to Switzerland.
Away from all this fury, from the blood and the mud, this forgotten Ordnance Depot faithfully carried out its tasks as only one tiny cog in the lurching juggernaut of the war effort. No generals memoirs illuminate its role, gloss over its weaknesses, embellish its success or cast blame on the next man up or down on the promotional ladder. no famous war movies have brought the Depot to public fame or public scandal.
Only the fading ink of a fraction of its past transactions is left to show that the place ever existed at all! The humble ledger book has proved more enduring than the Depot it once was part of, more enduring than the those who wrote in it and those who so thoughtlessly ripped out some of its pages for their own forgotten reasons.
Badges, Buttons and Balaclavas
In the remaining pages, a great many lines of stock are recorded. Most have their equivalent today, others have passed into disuse as the nature of warfare has changed.
On 1 Jun 1917 the following stocks are shown as being brought forward among many items:
Jacket SD 1605
Trouser SD 1144
Jackets Denim 1076
Trousers Denim 985
Pantaloons 307
Bags Kit 732
Greatcoats Dismounted 2303
Greatcoats Mounted 659
Balaclavas 294
Puggarees:
NZ Staff Corps 244
NZ Engineers Nil
NZASC 122
Veterinary Corps 19
Medical Corps 48
NZRB 102
Titles Brass;
NZ Rifles 299
NZ Mtd rifles 100
NZMP Nil
NZAOC Nil
NZ P&T Nil
NZ Pay Corps Nil
Other items recorded in the ledger include:
Buttons Brass RNZA Vest
Buttons Bone
Buttons Brass NZ Staff Corps
Buttons Imperial
Badges Cap (also collar), for
4 Regt
5 Regt
7 Regt
8 Regt
10 Regt
12 Regt
Veterinary Corps
Badges Armlet
Provost Marshal
Umpire
Stretcher Bearer
Blue – Hospital
Geneva Cross
Breeches Riding
Links Split button
Gloves, Mechanical transport
Hose
Puttees
Covers Mess tin, Infantry
Badges Arm Brass
Armourer
Driver
Saddler
Farrier
What went where?
On 27 June 1917 the QM of troopship No 75 was vouchered the following items. (IV 248)
Jackets SD – 248
Trouser SD – 207
Jacket Denim – 47
Pantaloons – 47
Bags Kit – 9
Caps SD – 20
Greatcoats DS patt – 238
Hats Felt – 32
Troopships departing from Lyttelton. Alexander Turnbull Library
The QMs of Troopships Nos 74 and 77 were vouchered similar items and qtys on July 7 and 14 of that year. The troopship “MARUA” returned qty 7 Jackets SD on 28 July though being issued with another 80 plus 50 denim jackets etc., etc. Issues to troopships appear quite often, on 6 Nov 1917 various items were issued under IV 252 to the transport “Devon” then lying at Port Chalmers. On 18 Jan 1918, qty 820 Kit Bags went on board HMS MARAMA.
Turning to the more usual area of army clothing issues, the rate of issues to individuals appears very high. In those days it is likely that clothing issues were made by Ordnance in Camps and thus the wheel has nearly turned full circle to what it was fifty years ago.
An officer known as the DofE&OS or DEOS appears most frequently of all among the recorded issues. DEOS was located in Wellington. What did these initials mean? Director of Equipment and Ordnance Services seems most likely, but then again the same page refers to issues made to the Director of Ordnance Services at Trentham.
Other issues, large and small, went to Home Service Store ST KILDA (IV 295 of 21 Nov 17) and OC Guards, QUARANTINE ISLAND (IV 520 of 12 Mar 18). Captain Von Luckner of the Reichmarine was a famous prisoner on this island in Lyttelton Harbour. Citizens of Germany and Austria-Hungary and their merchant seamen lucky enough to be in New Zealand at the outbreak of war were interned and many were kept on this island.
The list of “customers” is quite lengthy, but is worth recording as it shows the types of units which existed then. Some of the same type exist now; others have vanished.
OC RNZA Home Service
NZAOC Dunedin
8 Medical Board
7 Medical Board (In’gill)
8th Regt (In’gill)
10 Regt (Oamaru)
5th Mtd Rifles (Dunedin)
4th Regt (Kensington)
HQ Otago Military District
OC Railway Engr Unit (Oamaru)
OC Post & Telegraph Coy (Dun)
ADMS Dunedin
Vocational Officer (Dunedin)
OC Sth Island Railways Bn (Christchurch)
DOS Trentham
Ordnance Officer (Palm Nth)
C Bty Invercargill
Director Base Records (Wn)
2 Fd Amb
7 Fd Amb
OC Group 12 (In’gill)
2 Coy NZE
7th Mtd Rifles
OC Group 16 (Milton)
EL Sect (?) RNZA (Dunedin)
2 Coy NZGA
OC Coast Defence
6 Coy NZASC (In’gill)
2 Dist Sigs Coy
Ordnance Officer Featherston
Ordnance officer Trentham
Chief OO Wellington
OC Army Pay Corps (Dunedin)
Ordnance Officer Burnham
OC Sick & Wounded (Dunedin)
Ordnance Officer (Auckland)
Camp QM Awapuni
OC Sales Depot (Dunedin)
and the most intriguing unit of them all ….
OC Jaw Hospital, Dunedin where qty 14 Veterinary Corps Puggarees went under IV 319 of 25 July 1919!
As the present building occupied by 3 COD and formerly SDOD at Burnham were not built until shortly before and during World War II, and as the unit supplied include an Ordnance officer Burnham, it is likely that the Ordnance Depot or Store was located in Christchurch, the most probable place being King Edward Barracks.
So, once again, the old ledger is closed and is returned to the dark corner of the strong room. Outside pass the files and the teleprints whilst in a nearby room the transactions whirr and clatter on electronic machines. Nearly 55 years have passed since the ledger was bright and new and in 55 years time it will be 2017. The younger soldiers of the Corps now will be drawing their superannuation and the older ones will have marched off to join those of 1917. It is unlikely that the MD310s of 1972 will be around to tell their story in 2027, but the old ledger of 1917 may last. Who can tell?
Some Analysis of the 1972 Article
Where was the Depot?
The author believes that the Ledger was from the Ordnance Stores for the Canterbury and Nelson District, which before 1921 was located in King Edward Barracks in Christchurch, which was commanded by Captain A.R.C White and the known military staff included:
NZAOC 92 Private Hector Finch McKay
NZAOC 103 Private Thomas Riordan
NZAOC 183 Sergeant Robert Walter Baker Gale
On reading the article, it is clear the ledger described is actually from the Dunedin Ordnance Depot, which was located in St Andrews Street, Dunedin and was commanded by Captain O.P McGuigan and the known military staff included:
NZAOC 23 Armt Sgt Maj (WO) William Carroll, MSM
NZAOC 90 Staff Sergeant D McIntyre
NZAOC 130 Private Joseph Woods
NZAOC 151 Private Arthur Pidduck
NZAOC 181 Private Peter James Innes
NZAOC 203 Private Richard Rowe
Dunedin Mobilisation Stores, St Andrews Street, Dunedin. Google Maps/ Public Domain
Due to a reorganisation in 1921, both the Canterbury and Nelson Military District and the Otago and Southland Military Districts were combined into the Southern Military Command. As a result, the Ordnance Depots located at King Edward Barracks and the Dunedin Ordnance Depot situated in St Andrews Street, Dunedin, were relocated to Burnham Camp as the Southern Command Ordnance Depot.
Captain McGuigan and 5 staff were also relocated from Dunedin to Burnham, along with the Dunedin stock and records, including the ledger book described in the article.
The Southern Command Ordnance Depot was commanded by Captain White from 20 June 1921 until 19 Dec 1930, during which time he also doubled as the Burnham Camp Commandant.
Captain A.R.C White NZAOC. M.Dart/Public Domain
Badges, Buttons and Balaclavas
Many of the items on the list are easy to identify, but most people will immediately ask, “what the hell are Pantaloons?” Pantaloons were a type of trouser issued during WW1 to Mounted soldiers. They seem to be similar in appearance to riding breeches ( also mentioned in the ledger). The only difference I can see is that Pantaloons only go to the knee, whereas the Riding knockers go to the ankles.
Pantaloons. Imperial War Museum
Issues to ships
One of the interesting aspects of the article is the issues to the troopships. They have all been entered into the ledger at least 4 months after the troopship’s actual sailing date;
Troopship No 75 was the “Waitemata” sailed on the 19th of Jan 1917 carrying the 21st Reinforcements, 13th Maori Contingent. IV 248 entered into the Ledger on 27 June 1917.
Troopship No 74 was the ” Ulimaroa” that sailed on the 21st of Jan 1917, carrying the 21st Reinforcements, 13th Maori Contingent. IV entered into the Ledger on 7 July 1917.
Troopship No 77 was the “Mokoia” sailed on the 13th of Feb 1917, carrying the 22nd Reinforcements – E.F.G. Companies. IV entered into the Ledger on 14 July 1917
No record of a troopship “Marau”
Troopship No 81 was the “Devon” Sailed on 5 April 1917, carrying the 24th Reinforcements. IV entered into the Ledger on 6 Nov 1917.
Hospital Ship “Marama” was in Port Chalmers 30 Dec – 31 Jan 1918, IV entered into Ledger on 18 Jan 1918.
ULIMAROA
As the entry dates into the ledger roughly match up with the ship’s return to New Zealand several months later, the time lag from the issue being carried out and the Ledger update could be the result of some quirk in the accounting system for troopships in place at the time. The Issues for the Hospital Ship “Marama” seem to have been carried out before the ship’s departure.
DofE&OS or DEOS
The Author is unsure of the meaning of the abbreviation DofE&OS or DEOS but is partly right in his assumption that the initials mean ”Director of Equipment and Ordnance Services” the correct designation was “Director of Equipment and Ordnance Stores”. At the time was Major Thomas McCristell, who had previously been the head of the Defence Stores Department from April 1916, becoming the head of the NZAOC & NZAOD in March 1917. Remaining in the role until January 1920, when the position was renamed to “Director of Ordnance Services” and Lt Col H.E Pilkington became the incumbent.
Major Thomas James McCristell, Director of Equipment and Ordnance Stores, 10 April 1916 – 20 January 1920.
Quarantine Island
The Author assuming that the Depot was in Christchurch, has confused Quarantine Island/Kamau Taurua with Ripa Island (Fort Jervois) in Lyttelton Harbour. During the period 1915-1919, the Otago Quarantine Station was converted into a specialised military hospital treating both soldiers recruited in NZ and some NZ soldiers returned from overseas for VD, mainly gonorrhoea.
Quarantine Island, Port Chalmers. Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa
List of Customers
The list of customers provides a real insight into the range of units supported by the Dunedin depot and also identify s the other Ordnance units around the country at the time; these were:
DOS Trentham, Possibly after 1920 when the DOS appointment came into use.
Ordnance Officer (Palm Nth).
Ordnance Officer Featherston.
Ordnance Officer Trentham.
Chief Ordnance Officer Wellington.
Ordnance Officer Burnham from the time when the Depot in King Edward Barracks moved to Burnham, but before the Dunedin depot relocated to Burnham.
Ordnance Officer (Auckland).
Camp QM Awapuni indicates that there was no Ordnance Depot at Awapuni and the Camp QM was issuing and receiving goods directly from the Dunedin Depot, especially as Awapuni was the main training camp for the Medical Corps during WW1 and Otago was the location of several Medial facilities.
The Author highlights an issue to the OC Jaw Hospital in 1919; not sure the story behind this issue, but the Jaw Hospital itself is an interesting topic. Henry Pickerill who along with fellow New Zealander Harold Gillies was a pioneer and world leader in reconstructive plastic surgery, together, they developed groundbreaking techniques for treating some of the horrific injuries inflicted on soldiers during WW1, and many of their methods are still the standard 100 years on. The connection to the Jaw Hospital is that Pickerill, his team and 59 patients returned to New Zealand in 1919, where treatment continued at the facial and jaw department of Dunedin Hospital. Harold Gillies went on to develop Gender reassignment surgery.
What happened to the Ledger?
The Pataka article is the only mention of the ledger I have been able to find. Although the building in question is still occupied by the Army, I very much doubt that it remains there. Wouldn’t it be great if it still was?
Who were the first Ordnance Soldiers on the formation of the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps in 1917? The names of the original New Zealand Ordnance Officers are well recorded; Major McCristell, Captains King, Beck and White are names familiar to those knowledgeable in the History of the RNZAOC, but who were the original men of the Permanent Force NZAOC that came into life in 1917?
Not to be confused with New Zealand Expeditionary Force NZAOC, which was formed in 1915/16 as a unit of the NZEF. The formation of the Permanent Force NZAOC had been under discussion since 1904 and was finally established by regulations published in the NZ Gazette on 1 February 1917 and continued to serve the nation until 1996, when its successor, the Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps, was absorbed into the Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment,
The NZAOC was to be organised to completely replace the existing Civil Service-run Defence Stores Department, additionally incorporating many of the Ordnance functions carried out by the New Zealand Permanent Forces. Using Ordnance personnel records held by Archives New Zealand, I have reconstructed the 1917 NZAOC nominal roll. This identifies information about the soldiers, their previous military service, dates they were transferred if already serving, or attested into the NZAOC if previously a civilian and a raft of other information on promotions, postings, and discipline issues. These records are not complete but do provide enough information when combined with other sources to build a picture of the events of 1917.
Once the regulations authorising the formation of the NZAOC were published in the NZ Gazette on 1 February 1917, I am of no doubt that much of the planning for the establishment of the new Corps had already been undertaken. Between March and November 1917, approximately 140 men were either transferred or recruited directly into the NZAOC from four manpower pools consisting of:
Serving soldiers of the Permanent Forces,
Members of civil service employed by the existing Defence Stores Department and other Government departments,
Returned servicemen from the NZEF who had to be returned to New Zealand as unfit for overseas service but suitable for home service, and
Direct Entries from civilian occupations.
The available records indicate that the men initially required to form the NZAOC were identified in February/March 1917. The first cohort of men was drawn from the Permanent Force and transferred into the NZAOD starting on the 15th of March 1917, followed by the Defence Stores Department Civilian Staff who had been selected for militarisation, beginning in July 1917.
For the Men of the new NZAOC apart from some administrative changes, new cap badges for the serving soldiers and uniforms, military rules, and regulations for the civilian staff, there probably was not much change to their daily routine, just a change in names and appointments. The NZAOC was organised into Clerical, Stores, Ammunition and Maintenance sections located at:
Wellington; with NZAOC Headquarters, Stores and Workshops at Alexandra Barracks. Stores Depots at Te Aro, Taranaki Street and Trentham. Ammunition Section at Fort Ballance at Mahanga Bay.
Auckland, Mt Eden and Narrowneck
Palmerston North,
Featherston Camp,
King Edwards Barracks, Christchurch and
Dunedin, Otago Districts Stores Depot, St Andrews Street.
So, who were the first Ordnance Soldiers?
The first 10 Soldiers of various trades and ranks who joined the NZAOC were transferred from the Permanent Forces on the 15th of March 1917; they were:
Auckland
NZAOC No 17 Quartermaster Sergeant Artificer George Bush, Armaments Artificer.
NZAOC No 20 Armament Sergeant Major (WO) Thomas Edward Bryce, Armaments Artificer.
Palmerston North
NZAOC No 132 Armourer Staff Sergeant Andrew Archibald Young, Armaments Artificer.
Wellington
NZAOC No 1 Private Hugh John Adams, Ammunition Section.
NZAOC No 58 Staff Sergeant Artificer Thomas Reid Inch, Armaments Artificer.
NZAOC No 68 Private Patrick Keeshan, Ammunition Section.
NZAOC No 75 Private Charles William Marshall, Ammunition Section.
NZAOC No 82 Artificer Sergeant Major (WO) William Edward Moore, Armaments Artificer.
NZAOC No 100 Conductor William Ramsey.
Conductor William Henry Manning
Dunedin
NZAOC No 23 Armament Sergeant Major (WO) William Carroll, Fitter.
Many of these men had served in the Permanent Force for some years, some as far back as the days of the Army Constabulary. Some reached retiring age in a few years, while some continued to serve into the early 1940s, but although advanced in years, they provided a strong experience base in not only trade but also military experience for the fledgeling Corps.
Dress Embellishments
The NZAOC was authorised to wear the following dress embellishments.
Cap and Collar Badges. The home service NZAOC badge was based on the UK Army Ordnance Department badge. The New Zealand version modified the UK AOD badge by Having the letters NZ replace the centre cannonball in the top panel of the shield and with the inscriptions Army Ordnance Department on the scroll beneath the shield. The New Zealand Pattern Ordnance Corps Badge is unique in the world as it is one of the few Ordnance cap badges where the cannons face in the opposite direction to all other ordnance badges. Current evidence indicates that this badge was produced in Brass and Bronze The Collar badge was a simple version of the Cap badge without the scroll with the cannons facing inwards.
NZ Army Ordnance Corps badge 1917-1937. Robert McKie Collection
Brass Shoulder Titles. Although not authorised for wear until 1923, there is some photographic evidence showing that the brass NZAOC shoulder titles were worn as early as 1918.
NZAOC Brass Shoulder Titles. Robert McKie Collection
Puggaree with Ordnance Flash. The Puggaree worn at the time was Black/Khaki/Black. (The Red/Blue/Red Ordnance Puggaree was not adopted until 1923) Soldiers of the NZAOC wore this with the Ordnance badge and a 1.5 Inch x 1.5-inch blue and red distinguishing patch on the left-hand side of the hat. Due to a shortage of Lemon Squeezer hats in early 1918, forage caps were substituted.
NZAOC Home service patch (Reproduction). Robert McKie Collection
Soldier Profile
One member of the original cohort who I have decided to profile is the soldier who was allocated NZAOC Service Number 1.
NZAOC No 1 Private Hugh John Adams
Although technically not the first member of the NZAOC, but as a member of the first cohort to join the NZAOC and having NZAOC Service Number 1, it could be said that NZAOC No 1 Private Hugh John Adams was the first New Zealand Ordnance soldier and one of the first Ammunition Technicians.
Hugh Adams was the son of Irish/Scottish immigrants Adams was born at Lyttleton on the 21st of July 1874. Adams only completed school up to Standard Four (today’s year 6) and was working as a labourer in Blenheim at around 1892 when at 18 years of age, he enlisted in the Blenheim Rifles Volunteers (B Company of the First Battalion of the Nelson Infantry Volunteers.
Serving in the volunteers for five years, Adams resigned from the Blenheim Rifles in March 1897, moved to Wellington and was attested for service as a Gunner 3rd class into the Wellington Detachment of No 1 Company of the New Zealand Permanent Forces, Based at Fort Balance at Mahanga Bay Wellington.
Over the next few years, Adams consolidated himself in the Artillery earning promotion to Gunner 2nd Class on 1 Sept 1899 and then promotion to Gunner 1st Class on 11 March 1901.
Around 1900 Adams married Ada Charlotte McKenzie, with whom he had three children May, Cyril and Lyall.
1902 saw the reorganisation of the New Zealand Forces when, on the 15th of October, the Wellington Detachment of No 1 Company of the New Zealand Permanent Forces became the Wellington Detachment of the Royal New Zealand Artillery.
As a measure to assure some self-sufficiency in the inspection and supply of Artillery Ammunition the decision was made in 1914 to create as part of the Royal New Zealand Artillery an Ordnance Section to inspect and manufacture artillery ammunition. On 1 April 1915, authority was granted under New Zealand Defence Forces General Order 90 to raise the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps Section.
The section was small, and Adams, along with seven other members of the Royal New Zealand Artillery, were the foundation members whose primary duties were the assembling of ammunition components for the artillery. With the creation of the NZAOC in 1917, the responsibility for the Ordnance Section passed from the Royal New Zealand Artillery to the NZAOC with Adam and the other members becoming Ordnance soldiers.
The immediate post-war years into the mid-1920s were a busy time for the NZAOC. Substantial amounts of equipment from mobilisation camps in New Zealand and returned from Europe as the NZEF was demobilised needed to be sorted, graded, repaired, disposed of, redistributed, or placed into storage. For the Ammunition Section based at Mahanga Bay, it was a time of expansion. The Kaiwharawhara Magazine close to the city was closed, and the Mahanga Bay facilities expanded from the original magazine and laboratory building on the foreshore to include Fort Balance, Fort Gordon, and the Kau Point Battery, as these were decommissioned. Their armaments were removed, and gun pits were covered over with roofs and turned into additional magazines. The area went from being Wellington’s premier Defensive location to quite possibly the 1st large-scale ammunition depot of the NZAOC, a role it filled until the 1940s when purpose-built facilities were constructed at Belmont and Kuku Valley.
Mahanga Bay, Miramar, Wellington, c1910 (Colourised) Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand
Adams remained employed in the Ammunition Section and was primarily the 2IC of the Section during the busy years of the early 1920s, his duties included making up ammunition, and he was responsible for the care of the magazines and surrounding areas. In a 1921 review of the Ammunition Section, Adams was deemed necessary for the operation.
Few if any photographs exist of the work carried out by Adams and the Ammunition Section at Mahanga Bay, but these examples from the Australian War Museum provide some perspective.
Removing primer from a round of fixed QF ammunition. Australian War Memorial
RAN personnel inspecting cordite and then tying it into bundles. Australian War Memorial
Base fuse or plug being removed from or replaced in a large calibre BL projectile. Australian War Memorial
Reaching the retirement age of 55, Adams retired on 21 Feb 1929 after 31 years and 343 Days of service.
Remaining in the rank of Private all his career, due to his lack of education past standard 4, Adams was recognised as a competent soldier in his role in the Ammunition Section and was no novice when handling explosives. Adams was awarded the following medals:
Permanent Forces of the Empire Beyond the Seas Medal, and the
New Zealand Long and Efficient Service Medal
NZAOC No 1 Private Hugh John Adams, Permanent Forces of the Empire Beyond the Seas Medal and New Zealand Long and Efficient Service Medal
Adams passed away in August 1955, aged 81 years and is buried at the Karori cemetery in Wellington.
