3RD ARMOURED REGIMENT

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27924, 22 March 1956, Page 9

3RD ARMOURED REGIMENT

DISBANDMENT ON MARCH 31

POSTINGS OF MEN NOT YET DECIDED The 3rd Armoured Regiment will be disbanded from March 31, but it? is not yet known what will take its place. The men will eventually receive notice of their postings to other units, and the officers and non-com-mk ioned officers may be offered appointments in other units, not necessarily armoured. The Headquarters Squadron of the 2nd Armoured Regiment in Wanganui will be replaced by an artillery unit. The regiment’s two fighting squadrons from Hawera will be replaced by infantry units, and a divisional headquarters will be formed in place of the fourth squadron from Palmerston No th.

Both regiments recently held their annual camps. The 3rd Armoured' Regiment’s 42 tanks—one squadron of; American Stewart tanks based on Timaru, and two squadrons of British Valentine tanks, based on Blenheim and Invercargill are at Balmoral Military Camp, and their future is uncertain. Apart from two squadrons of armoured cars, the South Island will have no armoured unit after March 31, and the tanks may be sent to the North Island. The future of the Band of the 3rd Armoured Regiment '(Derry’s), the champion B grade band of New Zealand. is also undecided. Although the regiment was instituted in 1950. it traces its traditions much further back. It is a descendant of the Canterbury, Otago, and NelsonMarlborough mounted units, each of which was the first military unit raised in its province. These served in World War I, but in World War 11, when territorial units were mixed, the regiment was represented by the Divisional Cavalry and particularly by the 20th Armoured Regiment, from which many officers and non-cbmmissioned officers came into the 3rd Armoured Regiment.

The regiment was instituted in 1950 with officers only. Next year, its officers and senior n.c.o.’s went into camp at Burnham with similar cadres of the 3rd Infantry Battalion. In 1952. the first men trained under the present training scheme were posted to the regiment.