The Press SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1959. The Canterbury Regiment’s Centenary

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29052, 14 November 1959, Page 12

The Press SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1959. The Canterbury Regiment’s Centenary

This week-end the Canterbury Regiment will hold

ceremonies commemorating its 100 years of continuous service. Just as some of Britain’s proudest and most famous regiments have studded long periods of history with significant deeds, so has the Canterbury Regiment made indelible marks on the record of New Zealand’s settlement and development. Moreover, in peace time and in war, the Canterbury Regiment has been chosen by many men of the province as the medium through which they would serve the community and their country.

The men who formed the regiment were settlers aware of the possibilities of civil disturbance in their new country; it was a natural security measure for them to band together and to train as a volunteer military force. The turn of the century found volunteers from the Canterbury Regiment fighting in the South African War. In 1914-18 the regiment saw active service in Egypt, on Gallipoli, and in France. National policy decided that the established regiments would not go on active service as units in the war that

began in 1939, but men of the Canterbury Regiment formed component parts of no fewer than five battalions; and their deeds added to the regiment’s proud list of battle honours. These honours were not earned without heavy sacrifice, especially the battle honours earned in France during the 1914-18 war.

Sacrifices of a different kind have been demanded of officers and men of the regiment during peace. Often when the national attitude towards military service seemed to be a compound of apathy and resentment the sacrifice of considerable time by volunteers kept together the nucleus of an invaluable national military organisation. Just as in war the Canterbury Regiment survived the toll of heavy casualties, so in peace time it has survived triumphantly the vicissitudes that military organisations suffer in a normally unmilitary community. The centenary is an occasion for the people of Canterbury to show their warm feeling for a regiment of which they have every reason to be proud—and to remember men to whom they, their forbears, and their children have cause to be grateful.