BATTLE HONOURS

Southland Times, Issue 20016, 2 November 1926, Page 10

BATTLE HONOURS

INTERESTING HISTORY. HOW THEY WERE ALLOCATED. DOMINION’S REGIMENTS IN WAR. Information has recently been received that His Majesty the King has been pleased to approve of the award of battle honours to mounted rifles and infantry regiments of the New Zealand Territorial Forces, states the Evening Post. In 1914 these regiments provided the original Main Body of the N.Z.E.F., and the identity of the regiments was preserved in the N.ZE.F. throughout the war. There were in 1914 twelve regiments of mounted rifles and seventeen regiments of infantry. In order to incorporate this Territorial Force in the N.Z.E.F., the mounted rifles regiments each provided a squadron and portion of the headquarters of a mounted rifle regiment, while sixteen of the seventeen infantry regiments similarly supplied a company each and a portion of the headquarters of a battalion. As a result the Expeditionary Force contained in the first place:— (1) A brigade of mounted rifles and an independent mounted rifles regiment. (2) A brigade of infantry. Every squadron and company of this force was supplied by and actually bore the name of its own regiment in New Zealand. The remaining infantry regiment—the Wellington Regiment—proceded overseas as a unit forming tlv major portion of the expedition to Samoa in 1914. This regiment later returned in two bodies, the majority of the personnel being incorporated iq the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. Early in 1916, the New Zealand Division was formed by expanding the original Infantry Brigade into two and adding the newly-formed Rifle Brigade. Thus was in- i creased in 1917 by the formation of the Fourth Infantry Brigade, consisting of the third battalions of the four original infantry regiments. A COMPLICATED PROBLEM. The question of the method of allocation of battle honours to units of the Empire’s military forces was a complicated one, but was tackled promptly and in a thoroughly representative way. It was completed for the British Army in 1925, and as far as is known New Zealand is the first of the British Dominions to finalise the question. In August, 1919, a committee styled the “Battles Nomenclature Committee” was set up at the War Office, consisting of representatives of the British Army and of the Forces of all the British Dominions. Major-General Sir John Headlam, K.8.E., D. 5.0., was president of the committee, and the following were the New Zealand re-presentatives:—Brigadier-General G. N. Johnston, C.M.G., D. 5.0., M.C.; Major M. S. Westmacott, 0.8. E., Auckland Regiment; Major F. L. G. West, Auckland Regiment ; Captain A. H. H. Lewis, Otago Regiment.

This committee tabulated the actions fought in the war, classified them with a system of nomenclature to denote their relative importance, and defined the geographical and chronological limits of each action. An idea of the magnitude of the Great War is gained from the published work of this committee, from which it is seen that the military forces of the British Empire were engaged in no fewer than:—

Thirteen theatres of war, such as France and flanders, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Palestine, etc.;

Forty campaigns, such as the Allied offensives in France and Flanders, 1917, the invasion of Palestine, the Northwest frontier of India, etc.;

One hundred and fifty-two operations of ?--’h magnitude as the Retreat from Mons, the summer operations in France and Flanders, 1915; the breaking of the Hindenburg line, 1918; Anzac and Suvla operations; One hundred and seventeen great battles, such as Neuve Chapelle, Loos-Messines, Passchendaele, Sari Bair, Gaza, etc.; Seventy-three incidents, included in such battles as capture of Lone Pine, capture of Beersheba, etc.; Three hundred and seventeen actions, such as the capture of Bapaume, April, 1917; Hill 60, Anzac; Quin’s Post; capture of Jericho, and numerous miscellaneous incidents. CONDITIONS OF AWARD. The task of considering which and how many of such theatres of war, campaigns, battles, actions, etc., should be allowed as battle honours of regiments and corps, and questions of the principles guiding their allotment, was referred to a further committee in 1922. With the recommendations of these two committees as a guide, the War Office issued definite instructions as to the conditions on which battle honours would be awarded, and it was left to each regiment to make its claim from the official list of battles, etc. All the battles named in the official list at which the headquarters and not less than 50 per cent, of the effective strength of the unit were present could be claimed as battle honours for insertion in the Army List, and not more than ten of these could be selected to be emblazoned on the colours of those regiments entitled to carry colours. The battle honours approved for the New Zealand units have been selected from the official list by the colonel and officers of the units concerned. The Mounted Rifles regiments become entitled to from 15 to 24 battle honours each, and the infantry regiments to approximately 30 each. All the infantry regiments are entitled to carry colours, but according to custom in the British Army, the mounted rifles do not carry them. It will be noticed that no mention is made of Air Force, Artillery, Engineers, Army Service Corps, Medical Corps, Dental Corps, or Veterinary Corps in this connection. In the British Army these regiments and corps are represented in every war, and every battle, and to record their battle honours would be to record all the battles in British history. For this reason battle honours are not alloted to these corps. Two of the oldest of these, the regiment of Royal Artillery, and the Corps of Royal Engineers, were given as a substitute for battle honours the motto “Übique” (everywhere.) Previous to the Great War, battle honours were emblazoned on the regimental colours of regiments, but the colours of most of the British regiments now carry so many honours that there is not room for the ten earned in the Great War. For this reason the Great War honours' of British regiments will be emblazoned on the King’s Colour (the Union Jack). New Zealand regiments have at. most one battle honour on their regimental colour, that of “South Africa,” and permission has therefore been given for the Great War battle honours to be emblazoned on the regimental colours of the New Zealand regiments.