![]() | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Alf's Imperial Army is an organisation in New Zealand centered on the idea of "pacifist warfare", a form of mock combat. It is very loosely organised along military lines, and has or had regiments present in several towns and cities in the country. As a self-declared "army," it exists to "battle" using strictly non-harmful weapons. The group identifies their battles as akin to theatrical performances.
Alf's Imperial Army, along with the concept of pacifist warfare, was created by Ian Brackenbury Channell, who is now known as the Wizard of New Zealand, in 1972 at the University of Melbourne. [1] In 1973, Anthony Catford, a follower of the Wizard, moved to New Zealand and founded the 1st Canterbury Crusaders Regiment (later renamed the 1st Canterbury Light Infantry) in Christchurch. He organised the group's first battle at the city's University of Canterbury before moving to Wellington.
By late 2023, the Army had reduced public engagements and largely withdrawn from university campuses. Active regiments are still present in Christchurch, Hamilton, and Oamaru, The Wizard still fills the role of Spiritual Leader of the Army.
The Army fights battles in the name of King Charles III as self-declared monarchists. [2] Battles between the Army and other groups usually occur in public places and are intended as theatrical displays rather than historical reenactment.[ citation needed ] Though the mythos and uniforms are modeled after Victorian British soldiers, particularly redcoats, the uniforms and weapons are not historically accurate and no past event is reenacted. [3]
As proponents of "pacifist warfare", the Army fights using strictly non-harmful weapons, such as newspaper swords and cardboard shields, other "weapons" include bombs filled with water, flour, and porridge; "mass effect" weapons include large slingshots and mortars armed with soft fruit, water bombs, or flour bombs. The group's psychological warfare tactics include can-can charges, "assault" poetry, group singing, and taunting. In battle, participants wear costumes or uniforms and play roles such as scouts, magicians, witches, scribes, and photographers. Nurses, medics, and surgeons have the ability to bring "dead" fighters back to life by dispensing candy as medication and liquid (often port wine or water) as elixirs. Unlike live-action role-playing (which came into existence after Alf's Imperial Army), battle participants do not play individual named characters and there are no hit points or character generation or levels. There is no larger fictive role-playing world that battles are part of and there is generally no ongoing story from battle to battle.
There is no fixed way to determine the winner and groups may agree to disagree on the outcome as an excuse to battle again in the future. Winning may also depend on which group is best at telling a story or writing the history of the battle, or who the audience thinks performed most memorably. Some battles are pre-scripted.
In October 2000, the Army battled 40 New Zealand Green Party members, who fought under the name Green Republicans, in Oamaru. The Green Party group was led by Keith Locke and claimed afterwards that they had won since all Alf's Imperial Army soldiers died by "suicide". [4] The Army has also fought against other political parties, [5] the New Zealand Police, [6] student clubs, [7] student hostels, [8] Outward Bound, [9] community organisations, [10] [11] sea cadets, [12] schools, [13] TV stations, nudist organisations, [14] and other pacifist warfare groups. [15] [16] [1] [6] Since the inception of Alf's Imperial Army, other similar pacifist warfare groups, many of them unaffiliated with the Army, have been established around New Zealand, including the McGillicuddy Highland Army, the Waitati Militia, and the Czarist Russia-influenced First Lindskii Regiment.[ citation needed ] One of the Army's main rivals was the McGillicuddy Highland Army. [17] [18]
The Wizard of New Zealand is a British-born New Zealand educator, comedian, illusionist, and politician. He is also known by his shorter name, The Wizard.
A grenadier was historically an assault-specialist soldier who threw hand grenades in siege operation battles. The distinct combat function of the grenadier was established in the mid-17th century, when grenadiers were recruited from among the strongest and largest soldiers. By the 18th century, the grenadier dedicated to throwing hand grenades had become a less necessary specialist, yet in battle, the grenadiers were the physically robust soldiers who led vanguard assaults, such as storming fortifications in the course of siege warfare.
The Imperial Guard was originally a group of elite soldiers of the French Army under the direct command of Napoleon I, but grew considerably over time. It acted as his bodyguard and tactical reserve, and he was careful of its use in battle. The Guard was divided into the staff, infantry, cavalry, and artillery regiments, as well as battalions of sappers and marines. The guard itself as a whole distinguished between the experienced veterans and less experienced members by being separated into three sections: the Old Guard, Middle Guard and Young Guard. The Young Guard was virtually annihilated in the Battle of Krasnoi during the French invasion of Russia.
The New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) was the title of the military forces sent from New Zealand to fight alongside other British Empire and Dominion troops during World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). Ultimately, the NZEF of World War I became known as the First New Zealand Expeditionary Force. The NZEF of World War II was known as the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2NZEF).
The Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment is the parent administrative regiment and corps of regular and reserve infantry battalions in the New Zealand Army. It was originally formed in 1947 with a singular Regular regiment and multiple reserve regiments. Over time, the regiments were turned into battalions, the reserve units amalgamated and more regular units raised and disbanded. Currently, the Regiment currently consists of two regular and three reserve battalions. Throughout its existence, units raised in this regiment have served and deployed on operations in Malaya, Vietnam, Borneo and various United Nations peacekeeping operations.
The Royal New Zealand Signals Corps (RNZSigs) provides, co-ordinates and operates the communications networks of the New Zealand Army. The role of RNZSigs is to support other Arms by providing Communication Information System required for Command and Control of Units, Formations and Administrative installations in a theater of Operations and in the New Zealand support area. Modern signal equipment is essential to the army, demanding skilled operators and technicians. Because communications must be maintained even under the worst of conditions, signallers must be expert tradespeople. They must also accept a high degree of personal responsibility because the lives of soldiers can often rely on the fast and accurate transmission of battlefield information.
The McGillicuddy Highland Army is the fighting wing of New Zealand's Clan McGillicuddy and does battle with enemies of the Clan in accordance with the rules of the pastime of pacifist warfare. Battles have taken place at wide range of locations and events around the country. During the period 1984–1999 it shared many members in common with the Clan's political wing, the better-known McGillicuddy Serious Party.
The British Army is listed according to an order of precedence for the purposes of parading. This is the order in which the various corps of the army parade, from right to left, with the unit at the extreme right being highest. Under ordinary circumstances, the Household Cavalry parades at the extreme right of the line. Militia and Army Reserve units take precedence after Regular units with the exception of The Honourable Artillery Company and The Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers.
The voltigeurs were French military skirmish units created in 1804 by Emperor Napoleon I. They replaced the second company of fusiliers in each existing infantry battalion.
The Éclaireurs of the Guard was a Corps of cavalry scouts of the French Imperial Guard, which included three cavalry regiments created by Napoleon when he reorganised the Imperial Guard following the disaster of the French invasion of Russia. The Corps was created in Article I of the decree of 4 December 1813.
Cecil Godfrey Murgatroyd was an Australian politician, musician, and comedian. He was known for being involved in New Zealand National Politics along with Australian Federal and State Politics, and for his role in the 1998 Australian Constitutional Convention. From 1981 until his death in 2001, he was generally associated with running and standing as a candidate for two non-serious parties: the Imperial British Conservative Party (IBCP) and the McGillicuddy Serious Party (McGSP); which operated in both countries. Murgatroyd's platforms were typically absurdist and of a 'pataphysical' nature.
The 1st Brigade is currently the largest unit of the New Zealand Army, and contains most of the army's deployable units. The brigade was formed on 13 December 2011 by amalgamating the 2nd Land Force Group and 3rd Land Force Group. Its establishment formed part of the 'Army 2015' package of reforms.
The 2nd Infantry Brigade was a formation of the New Zealand Military Forces raised for service abroad with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force during the First World War. As part of the New Zealand Division, it participated in several major battles on the Western Front from 1916 to 1918 before being disbanded in 1919. There was also a 2nd Infantry Brigade in the New Zealand Territorial Force that existed from 1924 to 1964.
The 1973 New Year Honours in New Zealand were appointments by Elizabeth II on the advice of the New Zealand government to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by New Zealanders. The awards celebrated the passing of 1972 and the beginning of 1973, and were announced on 1 January 1973.
The 1980 New Year Honours in New Zealand were appointments by Elizabeth II on the advice of the New Zealand government to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by New Zealanders. The awards celebrated the passing of 1979 and the beginning of 1980, and were announced on 31 December 1979.
The 1971 Queen's Birthday Honours in New Zealand, celebrating the official birthday of Elizabeth II, were appointments made by the Queen on the advice of the New Zealand government to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by New Zealanders. They were announced on 12 June 1971.
The New Zealand Scottish Regiment was a regiment of the New Zealand Army. It was formed in 1939 as an infantry regiment and raised two battalions during the Second World War. Although the 1st Battalion was sent overseas during the war as part of the 3rd Division, it never saw combat. The regiment was reformed in 1948 as a reconnaissance regiment of the Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps, but by the 1960s had been reduced to two independent squadrons. Various armoured vehicles were utilised by the regiment including Daimler Dingo Scout Cars, Daimler Armoured Cars, Ferret armoured cars and M113a1 armoured personnel carriers. The regiment was eventually disbanded in 2013.
The Volunteer Force was a voluntary part time military organisation of the New Zealand Military Forces. The force provided the bulk of New Zealand's defence during the late nineteenth century and was made up of small independent corps of less than 100 men. Throughout its entire existence, the Volunteer Force was criticised for being untrained, disorganised and poorly led, with units often prioritising dress uniforms over actual military training. Despite these misgivings, units of the Volunteer Force did conduct military actions during the New Zealand Wars and the Second Boer War. In 1910 the Volunteer Force was converted into the Territorial Force. Many of the modern day units of the New Zealand Army can draw their lineages back to corps of the Volunteer Force.
The Waikato Regiment was a territorial infantry regiment of the New Zealand Military Forces. The Regiment was formed in 1911 as the 16th (Waikato) Regiment and provided service companies to the Auckland Infantry Regiment during the First World War. Men from the Regiment also served with the 18th, 21st, 24th and 29th battalions of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force during the Second World War. The regiment was absorbed by the 1st Armoured Regiment (Waikato) of the Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps in 1950