N.Z. TERRITORIAL DIVISION

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27669, 27 May 1955, Page 9

N.Z. TERRITORIAL DIVISION

4th Armoured Brigade Command TRANSFER ANNOUNCED “The Press” Special Service WELLINGTON, May 26 The transfer of command of the 4th Armoured Brigade of the New Zealand Division from Brigadier C. L. Pleasants, to Lieutenant-Colonel H. A. Robinson, was announced at Army Headquarters by the Adjutant-General (Brigadier R. C. Queree) today. Lieu-tenant-Colonel Robinson, who commands the Divisional Regiment, Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps, will be promoted to brigadier, and his place will be taken by Major W. J. Rainbow. A farmer at Waipukurau in civil life, Lieutenant-Colonel Robinson was com-

missioned in the Territorial Force in 1934. He volunteered on the outbreak of the Second World War, and left New Zealand with the 2nd New Zealand Divisional Cavalry Regiment in the Ist Echelon. He won the Military Cross in Greece, and later was wounded twice before he took com-

mand of the 18th Armoured Regiment in 1944. In 1945 Lieutenant-Colonel Robinson was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and took command of the 20th Armoured Regiment, before returning to New Zealand. After going to the United Kingdom with the Victory Contingent in 1946 he was awarded the Efficiency Decoration, and two years later was given command of the 2nd Armoured Regiment. He became commanding officer of the Divisional Regiment. R.N.Z.A.C. in 1953. Major W. J. Rainbow, who succeeds Lieutenant-Colonel Robinson, is a farmer at Havelock North. He joined the Army in June, 1939, and served in Fiji before going to the Middle East, where he served in light anti-aircraft and field artillery regiments. He returned to New Zealand in 1945, and in 1950 became a squadron commander in the 2nd Armoured Reßiment. He transferred to the Divisional Regiment, R.N.Z.A.C., three years later. The Commander of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers of the New Zealand Division, LieutenantColonel N. L. W. Uniacke, is to be succeeded by a regular officer. Major F. D. McWha. Lieutenant-Colonel Uniacke. who in civil life is a Christchurch engineer, joined the Army in 1939 and went overseas with the 2nd Echelon as commanding officer of the 17th Light Aid Detachment attached to the headquarters of the sth Infantry Brigade. In 1942 he became Deputy-Assistant Director of Ordnance Services (Engineering) of. the New Zealand Division, and on the formation of the New Zealand Electrical and Mechanical Engineers in that year he transferred to the new .corps. He became commanding officer of the s 4th New Zealand Armoured Brigade workshops, and was twice mentioned in dispatches before becoming Commander of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers of the 2nd N.Z. Division and the 2nd N.Z.E.F. in 1943. He was made an 0.8. E. in 1944, and on the re-activation of the Territorial Force in 1948 he took up his present appointment with the New Zealand Division.

Major McWha, who will remain in charge of the Electrical and Mechanical Engineers in the Northern Military District, in addition to his new appointment, joined the Army in 1939. •He Served in New Zealand and the Middle East before going to the United Kingdom in 1941 for a course at the Military College of Science. After serving with British Army units he returned to the 2nd N.Z. Division in Italy in 1943. He was mentioned in dispatches and in 1945 became Commander of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers of the N.Z. Division. He has served at the headquarters of the Northern Military Dis--1 triCt since 1946.