Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps | |
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Active | 1915–1996 |
Country | ![]() |
Branch | ![]() |
Role | Storage and issuing of ordnance |
Motto(s) | Sua tela tonanti, commonly translated as "To the Warrior his Arms" |
Colours | Scarlet and dark blue |
March | The Village Blacksmith |
Anniversaries | 12 July |
Commanders | |
Colonel-in-Chief | Queen Elizabeth II |
The Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps (RNZAOC) was a Corps in New Zealand until 1996. It concerned itself with the provisioning of troops with the means to fight; specifically uniforms, weapons and equipment. Ordnance functions go back hundreds of years; the first Ordnance Officer in the British military appeared in the year 1299. Designated "Keeper of the King's Wardrobe", his duties included the care and accounting of heavy equipment such as battering rams and catapults.
The title of "Master of Ordnance" can be traced to 1414; this individual cared for the king's military stores, particularly his artillery pieces. He retained control over engineer and artillery personnel until 1716.
In the 1840s, the British military set up ordnance stores in New Zealand, with full control passing to New Zealand authorities after 1870. In 1917 the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps was formed, taking over duties performed formerly by the New Zealand Defence Stores Department. Creditable service in the Second World War led to the grant of the prefix "Royal" by George VI on 12 July 1947.
The Territorial component of the Corps was not authorised until 1940, and combined with the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps in 1946.
"For many generations, the Ordnance Corps were the guardians of stores and supply services in the Old Army. Before the dark times. Before the RNZALR and the embedding of quartermasters into the supply trade." On 8 December 1996, the RNZAOC was one of the corps that amalgamated to form The Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment (RNZALR). [1]
The RNZAOC traces its origins back to the early days of the New Zealand Colony. Military stores to support the Imperial troops and colonial militia units were provided by the British Board of Ordnance based out of Sydney New South Wales, with local support between 1840 and 1844 provided by the Colonial Storekeeper.
In the years following the Crimean War the Board of Ordnance was abolished and its responsibilities taken over by the Military Stores Department. [2] In 1856 stores depots were established at Mt Cook in Wellington and at Fort Britomart in Auckland, by 1870 the final withdrawal of Imperial troops had been completed.
By the time of the final withdrawal of Imperial troops by 1870 the full responsibility for providing stores for the New Zealand forces had gradually been assumed by the New Zealand Defence Stores Department. [3] In the early years of the 20th century, it was recognised that New Zealand Defence stores functions, which were controlled by a combination of civilian and military departments were in need of rationalisation and modernisation. Various studies were undertaken and many recommendations made, with organisational changes taking place in 1907 and after then 1910 inspection and recommendations of Field Marshal Viscount Kitchener plans for the formation of an Ordnance Corps progressed slowly with small steps taken in 1911, the ad hoc formation of the NZAOC within the NZEF and finally the formation of the New Zealand Army Ordnance Department and Corps with them being Gazetted on 1 February 1917 taking over the functions of the Defence Stores.
Established as a sub-unit of the Defence Stores Department, the New Zealand Ordnance Corps was established under the Authority of New Zealand Defence Force Order 118 and brought all the Armourers of the New Zealand Permanent Militia into a single organisation under the control of the Director of Stores. The approved establishment of the New Zealand Ordnance Corps was detailed in the same order and consisted of; [4]
With the establishment of the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps in 1917, the staff of the New Zealand Ordnance Corps were absorbed into the new Corps.
In 1907 the Defence Forces underwent a command reorganisation with the creation of the Defence Council. Separate of the Defence Stores Department, but still under the Defence Council, the position of the Director of Artillery Services (Ordnance) was created. [5]
The Director of Artillery Services (Ordnance) was responsible for Artillery armament and ammunition, fixed coast defences, and supplies for ordnance, and it was envisaged that it would be constituted of three sub branches:
The Defence report of 1914 identified that the Artillery Departments of Ordnance was to be absorbed into the Quartermaster General branch and that the officer who had held the appointment of Director of Ordnance will become Chief Instructor of Garrison Artillery and Inspector of all Artillery, coast defences, fortifications, guns, and ammunition and all Ordnance stores functions handed over to the Director of Equipment and Stores.
Rank | Name | Start date | Finish date | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Major | G.N Johnston | 23 February 1907 | 31 May 1907 | Director of Artillery Services (Ordnance) |
Captain | G.S Richardson | 31 May 1907 | Director of Ordnance | |
Lt Col | H.F Head | 31 July 1908 | 31 March 1911 | Director of Ordnance |
Major | Hume | 31 March 1911 | Director of Ordnance | |
Lt Col | G.N Johnston | 15 March 1911 | 1914 | Director of Ordnance & Artillery |
As a result of shortfalls caused by the 1914–19 war, it was decided to create an Ordnance section to inspect and manufacture artillery ammunition and on 1 April 1915, the Army Ordnance Section of the NZ Army was created. [6] [7] [8] [9]
By 1919 most of the Ordnance Stores functions carried out by the Royal New Zealand Artillery had been assumed by the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps (NZAOC) and New Zealand Army Ordnance Department (NZAOD), but it was not until 1929 that Artillery Artificers were transferred to the NZAOC. [10]
The New Zealand Army Ordnance Department gazetted on 1 February 1917, consisted of Officers who would command the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps, which comprised the Warrant Officers, NCOs and men. [11] [12]
Between 1914 and 1947 the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps(NZAOC) existed in three distinct iterations;
From 1939 Ordnance units in the newly constituted 2NZEF were referred to as the 2NZEF NZOC (New Zealand Ordnance Corps) [13] and was made up of members of the regular Force NZAOC, Territorial force and recently recruited civilians.
With the massive expansion of the Home army in 1940, the New Zealand Ordnance Corps (NZOC) was formally constituted as a stand-alone Corps in December 1940. The NZOC was the Ordnance element of the New Zealand Territorial Army, [14] [15] and was tasked with home defence and as a feeder for the Expeditionary Forces. [16]
In 1947 a Reorganization of New Zealand Military Forces removed the distinction between Regular and non-Regular soldiers, and the NZOC ceased to be a separate Corps, becoming part of the NZAOC. [9] [17]
The corps was granted the right to use the "Royal" prefix on 12 July 1947. [18]
In 1962, RNZAOC Stores Sections carrying specialised spares, assemblies and workshops materials to suit the particular requirement of its parent RNZEME workshops were approved and RNZEME Technical Stores personnel employed in these were transferred to the RNZAOC. [10]
During the Vietnam War a number of RNZAOC personnel served with the New Zealand Logistic Support Element (LSE) which supported 161 Battery RNZA whom served under the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade from 1965 until 1966. With the formation of the 1st Australian Task Force in 1966 the LSE was detached from the battery and incorporated into the 1st Australian Logistic Support Group (1 ALSG) at Vung Tau. Some 50 RNZAOC personnel served in the headquarters of 1 ALSG thereafter in all aspects of 1 ALSG's support functions for Australian and New Zealand forces in Vietnam. [19] Other RNZAOC members served with the New Zealand headquarters (HQ V Force) in Saigon, 1 ATF headquarters at Nui Dat, 161st Independent Reconnaissance Flight (Australia), 161 Battery RNZA, and the RNZIR rifle companies. One member also served in 1st New Zealand Army Training Team Vietnam (1 NZATTV) which helped train South Vietnamese forces. [20]
On 12 May 1979 the Royal New Zealand Army Service Corps ceased to exist and the responsibilities of road, transport, air dispatch and postal functions were handed over to the Royal New Zealand Corps of Transport (RNZCT) who were formed on On 12 May 1979. The responsibilities of provision of foodstuffs and POL (petrol oil lubricants) was handed over to the RNZAOC).
On 9 December 1996 the corps ceased to exist as it was amalgamated into the Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment.
From a genesis of four Stores Depots at the beginning of the 20th century, the RNZAOC expanded and retracted to meet the operational needs of the NZ Army. Wherever New Zealand troops have deployed overseas there has either been a NZ Ordnance unit in support or NZ Ordnance personnel embedded in allied organisations.
In the early years of the Corps, stores accounting relied upon manually raised vouchers and entries into ledger books and cards. This was detailed work and required much attention to detail and over the years the Corps would be criticised for lax accounting procedures. [21]
As a major part of the Corps activity centred around procurement, provisioning and stores accounting, moves were taken in the mid-1960s to replace stubby pencils and rubbers with the introduction of NCR accounting Machines. The MD310 Ledger card would be the accountable record of the item held in stock. When transactions occurred, the card would be removed from its bin in the ledger office, sent to the machine room, updated on NCR-33 and later NCR-299 machines, [22] once complete the card would be returned to the Ledger office. This was a standalone process with no external outputs. In the early 1970s an ICL computer system was introduced, this provided a paper tape from the accounting machine which would then be uploaded daily in to a mainframe to provide provisioning and reporting data. [23]
In 1981 the NCR machines were still in use but becoming tired and needing replacement. The ICL System was replaced with a Sperry Mainframe and planning started on the Defence Supply System Retail (DSSR), which would be introduced in 1984–85 and the NCR machines retired after just over 20 years of service. [24] In a few years DSSR was superseded by the Defence Supply System Detail (DSSD), which itself was replaced by the SAP R/3 system in late 1996.
As the NZ Army had a long relationship with the British Army, the Corps used the Vocabulary of Army Ordnance Stores (VAOS) system of codification of item part numbers, but as the relationship with the United States became closer and more US equipment was coming into service it was decided in 1968 to adopt the NATO Codification System and replace the VAOS number with internationally standardised NATO Stock Number (NSN). With the sponsorship of the United Kingdom, New Zealand was subsequently admitted into the NATO Codification community in 1969. The first official “98” NATO Stock Number was assigned in Dec 1972. With a large number of stores items to be codified a large number VAOS codes were to remain in circulation for many years and systems were put in place to merge the two systems and by the end of the 1970s the NSNs were fully integrated as part of the New Zealand Army supply system. [25] [26]
The colours of the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps were scarlet, in reference to their link with the combat Corps, and dark blue. [27] [28]
The RNZAOC Flag was 6×3 ft divided into three horizontal panels. The upper and lower panels were 9 in high and post office red in colour. The centre panel was 1 ft 6 in high and purple navy in colour. The Corps badge was positioned centrally on the flag. [28]
RNZAOC Unit flags were a 3 ft X 2 ft at the hoist purple navy pennant, superimposed with a post office red ball. [28]
The RNZAOC's motto was Sua tela tonanti (literally "His [i.e. Jupiter's] Missiles to the one who is Thundering", but commonly translated as "To the Warrior his Arms"). [28]
The Village Blacksmith adopted by the RAOC as its Corps march in 1922, was by default also adopted as the Corps march of the RNZAOC. [28] [29]
The RNZAOC celebrates its Corps day on 12 July, which was the anniversary of the day the RNZAOC was granted the "Royal" prefix.
The patron saint of the RNZAOC is Saint Barbara. St Barbara is the patron saint of workers with explosives, artilleryman and miners. St Barbara's day is commemorated on 4 December.
At the end of 1920 King George V approved an alliance between the RAOC and the Ordnance Corps of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. Formal approval was granted in New Zealand on 1 March 1921 by General order 95. [30]
The RNZAOC badge design has evolved as the Corps has grown. [31] [32]
The badge worn by the NZ Army Ordnance Section was the RNZA Badge of the time with the word "UBIQUE" replaced by the initials "NZ".
Subsequent badges since 1914 have followed the pattern of the badges of the RAOC culminating in a badge with the following four elements:
Collar badges were miniatures of the cap badge, coming in pairs with the cannons facing both left and right. Between 1917 and 1923 the NZAOC and NZAOD used the same collar badge.
From 1937 to 1954 the standard badges were brass/bronze, changing to badges manufactured in anodised aluminium in 1955. Gilt, silver and enamel badges of the pattern of the day were also available from 1937 and were typically reserved for officers.
The RNZAOC stable belt was approved for use in 1972. [34] The belt was based on the RAOC belt having four wide blue stripes with three narrow red stripes. The buckle departed from the RAOC patterns, having a 7–6 cm chromed buckle on which a RNZAOC badge was mounted. [35]
Three types of shoulder flashes have been worn: [36]
The "lemon squeezer" was worn from World War I to a certain extent during World War II and up to 1960, although often replaced by more convenient forage caps or berets. As a means of unit identification, coloured Puggarees were introduced. Puggarees are the hatbands on the felt slouch and Lemon Squeezer hats used by the NZ Army. Puggarees from an Indian (Hindi) word paggari or pagri roughly translated means small turban. Puggarees on western military headgear have their origins with the British Indian Army's attempt to make the band on helmets and hats look like a stylised turban. New Zealand adopted various coloured Puggarees for different regiments and corps, approved for use from 1923 the Ordnance Corps Puggaree was red-blue-red. [37]
The appointment of conductor was used in the New Zealand Army up to the 1930s. It then lapsed to be introduced back into the New Zealand Army in 1977, with he proviso that maximum of five conductors can be appointed at any one time. The Appointment of conductor was discontinued with the amalgamation of the Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps (RNZAOC) into the Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment (RNZALR)on its establishment in 1996. [38] [39]
A tradition maintained by the RNZAOC was the Henry Tucker Club. A semi-formal club consisting of senior NCOs, warrant officers and officers that would meet on regular occasions to discuss corps- and trade-related issues. The club was named after Henry Tucker, who was the Colony of New Zealand's first Colonial Storekeeper. [40]
Unlike other RNZAOC units, a Henry Tucker Club did not exist in the New Zealand Advanced Ordnance Depot in Singapore, as the depot was over the water and there was no real affiliation with the first colonial Storekeeper. As Billy Beck was the first New Zealand ordnance soldier to set foot on a foreign land operationally, his name was chosen for the club for all RNZAOC military members posted to Singapore. [41] [42]
The requirement for a Corps newsletter was first mooted by the Director of Ordnance Services (DOS) in 1968 as a medium to distribute information about activities in the RNZAOC and it was to be published quarterly or more frequently. The first printed edition was published in October 1968 and distributed across the Corps including copies to soldiers then serving in Malaysia and Vietnam. [43]
Later the name "Pataka" was adopted as the name of the RNZAOC magazine and issues continued to be produced on a more or less regular basis until the disestablishment of the RNZAOC in 1996.
The RNZAOC has two memorials of note:
Commissioned by Lt Col David Watmuff, Commanding Officer of 1 Base Logistic Battalion, and painted by Artist Graham Braddoc,. [46] the RNZAOC painting Sua Tela Tonanti-To the Warrior His Arms was presented to the Corps in 1998, and encompasses several aspects of the RNZAOC at work. [47] The original is now displayed in the Foyer of Headquarters Logistics Command (Land), Trentham Military Camp.
Conductor (Cdr) is an appointment held by a few selected warrant officers class 1 in the Royal Logistic Corps and is one of the most senior appointments that can be held by a warrant officer in the British Army. Previously conductor was the most senior warrant officer appointment, but it was outranked with the creation of the Army Sergeant Major appointment in 2015 following Army reforms. The appointment was also reintroduced into the Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps for selected warrant officers class 1 in 2005.
The Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment, is the New Zealand Army's main military Logistics and combat service support (CSS) element. It is the largest regiment in the NZ Army.
The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equipment, ammunition and clothing and certain minor functions such as laundry, mobile baths and photography. The RAOC was also responsible for a major element of the repair of Army equipment. In 1942 the latter function was transferred to the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) and the vehicle storage and spares responsibilities of the Royal Army Service Corps were in turn passed over to the RAOC. The RAOC retained repair responsibilities for ammunition, clothing and certain ranges of general stores. In 1964 the McLeod Reorganisation of Army Logistics resulted in the RAOC absorbing petroleum, rations and accommodation stores functions from the Royal Army Service Corps as well as the Army Fire Service, barrack services, sponsorship of NAAFI (EFI) and the management of staff clerks from the same Corps. On 5 April 1993, the RAOC was one of the corps that amalgamated to form The Royal Logistic Corps (RLC).
ANZUK was a tripartite force formed by Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom to defend the Asian Pacific region after the United Kingdom withdrew forces from the east of Suez in the early 1970s. The ANZUK force was formed in Singapore on 1 November 1971 under Rear Admiral David Wells and disbanded on 31 January 1974.
The ANZUK Ordnance Depot was established in 1971 to provide logistical support to Australian, New Zealand and British forces stationed in Singapore and Malaysia as part of ANZUK Force. It was commanded by a Royal Army Ordnance Corps officer of the rank of lieutenant colonel and staffed by Australian, New Zealand and United Kingdom personnel and Locally Employed Civilians. This organisation operated for only a short period. Australia changed Government in 1972 and the incoming Labor Government decided to withdraw Australia’s commitment to the region. This took effect in 1974 and was followed later by the withdrawal of the British forces. It was then decided that New Zealand should form its own Advanced Ordnance Depot, designated the New Zealand Advanced Ordnance Depot (NZAOD). This was the start of a commitment which was to last until December 1989.
The Royal New Zealand Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (RNZEME) was a New Zealand Army Corps comprising Army trained tradesmen (craftsmen) who repaired Army equipment wherever New Zealand Forces served.
Authority was granted under New Zealand Defence Forces General Order 90 to raise the New Zealand Army Ordnance Section with effect from 1 April 1915.
New Zealand Force South East Asia (NZFORSEA) (1974–1989) comprised the elements of the Royal New Zealand Navy, New Zealand Army and Royal New Zealand Air Force. Much of the New Zealand military left Singapore as part of operation Kupe in 1989, leaving behind a residual Defence Support Unit (NZDSU).
William Thomas Beck was a New Zealand Army Officer and one of the first New Zealand soldiers to land on Gallipoli on 25 April 1915.
5 Advanced Ordnance Depot was a short lived Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps and Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps combined Depot in Singapore 1970 to 1971.
The Defence Stores Department was a department of the New Zealand Defence Department responsible for the purchase, receipt, issue and repair of stores, initially for the Armed Constabulary and then the Permanent and Volunteer Forces of New Zealand from 1862 to 1917.
The Military Store Department (MSD) was a British army supply organisation that supplied the British Imperial Forces in the Colony of New Zealand from 1840 to 1870.
From four Stores Depots in the main centres of New Zealand at the beginning of the 20th century, the Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps (RNZAOC) expanded and shrank to meet the operational needs of the NZ Army, Ordnance units have been deployed worldwide and across the breath and width of New Zealand.
With the adoption of the Singapore strategy in the 1920s as a key cornerstone of Imperial Defence, Singapore and Malaya became the major British bases in the East, not only to defend British possessions in Asia, but also the dominions of Australia and New Zealand, who also contributed a large portion of the construction costs.
Thomas James McCristell (1873–1946) was a professional soldier of the British and New Zealand Army, who served in India, South Africa who progressed through the ranks to become the Head of the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps and New Zealand Army Ordnance Department on their formation in 1917.
The New Zealand Army Ordnance Department (NZAOD) was the organisation of commissioned officers who were responsible for the supply, maintenance and repair of equipment, small arms and all stores required for the Defence Force from 1917 to 1923.
The New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps (NZAOC) was a Corps whose function was to provide, receive, store, repair, maintain, and issue: ordnance stores, vehicles, ammunition, foodstuffs, and ammunition. Ordnance Organisations had previously existed in the Royal New Zealand Artillery and the New Zealand Defence Stores Department, who for the Territorial Army established a temporary Ordnance Deport organisation and trained staff in Ordnance functions for the 1913 and 1914 Annual camps, so that on the eve of the great war a cadre existed within the Territorial Army to establish an Ordnance Corps to support the NZEF.
Norman Joseph Levien (1871–1967) was a New Zealand Army Officer and a foundation member of the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps who served in Egypt, Gallipoli and Europe during the First World War.
Thomas Joseph King, CBE, was a senior officer in the New Zealand Military Forces and a foundation member of the New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps who served in both world wars.
Logistic Specialist is the Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment trade responsible for providing Supply & Quartermaster support to the New Zealand Army within New Zealand or overseas.
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