GALLANT REGIMENT

Waikato Times, Volume 119, Issue 19894, 25 May 1936, Page 6

GALLANT REGIMENT

1 WAIRATO’S HISTORY. l | __ i i RECORD IN THE GREAT WAR. i I i ___. i i MANY FAMOUS ENGAGEMENTS. i i i ___. i , "Kn whawhai tonu, ake ake," i "\\'e fight on for ever and ever"— ithe epic challenge flung: out by l'tewi Manianoto at the siege of Oraknu has ‘beromn perpetuated in the spirit of H regiment Emblazonecl on the new ‘Colours which were presented to the ‘“'aikato Regiment by the Governor—‘General, \‘isrount Galway. at the High ,Srhnol grounds yesterday, it is an lemhlem that recalls heriosm, ihnth l ancient and modern. Under this creSt men combatted dysentery. thirst and ‘the Turk at Anzac Cove, they pene—trated .\lessines. fought Kallantly at lljiissrhendale and heroically held the comma. The formation of the \\’aikato Regiment goes back to 1911 when. with the introduction of compulsory military training, it {was formed for the training of territorial: in the \\’aikato and King Country districts. Extending from Onehunga in the north to iMokau in the south with the Piako ,and West Taupe Counties its flank boundaries the Regimental district was set up with headquarters at Hamilton. Lieutenant-Colonel Barclay, V.D.‘ “'35 appointed to the command, but following his transfer shortly after, .\ininr R. \V. Cumming took over with Captain \\'. L. Sinclair—Burgess, now‘ Major—General Sir \\'illiam Sinclair—i Burgess rlenr‘rnl Oi’l’lrcr Commanding the New Zealand Forres. as his adju—‘ tant. Raw. untrained and rind in ['oanpolitan mufti, 433$ officers and men entered camp at. the Cinudelands Racecourse on March is, 19m. Uniforms were issued and largely on account of the keenness of the trainees and the ability of the permanent staff sergeant.maJors, who were nearly all selected non-commissioned officers ,from the regular army. excellent progress \VaSi made. When General Sir Alexander Godley inspected the battalion he was most complimentary in his observations. First. colours Presented. In the following year the northern areas were transferred to Coast Defence unlts, and in April, 1913, exten—sive field training was carried out at a brigade camp at Cambridge. In April and May of 1914 the regiment was under canvas at Hautapu at a so—calied divisional camp, where it was inspected by General Sir lan Hamilton. On May 3, the Governor-General, Earl‘ Liverpool, presented the regiment with its old Colours which. as in thci present case, were subscribed for‘ from the whole of the district. Three months later the regiment rwas transposed from peace to war. Austrian guns echoed across the Danube, and the announcement of a New Zealand Expeditionary Force ofrered active service opportunities to

the Waikato territorials. The original ■company became known as the Waikato Company of the Auckland Regiment of the N.Z.E.F. and the later units took similar positions in the Second and Third Battalions of the Auckland Regiment, making the history of the Waikatos synonymous with that of the Auckland Regiment. In October, 1914, the New Zealanders sailed for Egypt and, in the following April, participated in the memorable Gallipoli landing. As a unit in the first contingent to commence the assault on the ridges above Anzac Gove at 8.30 on April 25, the Waikatos were immediately involved in fierce lighting, all the officers and many of the non-commissioned officers and men being killed or wounded. The remainder stood their ground grimly. The wave of reinforcements filled the regiment’s depleted ranks and, as shell, bullet and sickness took their toll, the personnel constantly changed. Gallipoli Evacuated. When Gallipoli was evacuated in December, 1915, the New Zealanders returned to Egypt for re-organisation and a respite. Tt was found necessary to establish another Auckland Battalion known as Second Auckland in which a new Waikato Company was formed with the result that-, when in March, 1916, the New Zealanders embarked for France to lake over the front line trenches in the vicinity of Armentieres. there were two Waikato companies in the field. For four months they gleaned the experience of trench warfare in this sector, but In August they were transfered to a training area behind the Somme battlefields for training for the attacks which the New Zealanders successfully launched against the village of Flers on the Somme on September 15. With heavy casualties, the i Second Waikato Company took part, in the attack and secured its objective. The First Waikatos sent out a full I company to take grid and support i trenches. They succeeded—but only ! one officer and six men came back, i After such a magnificent effort the j New Zealanders were drafted to Armentieres for a rest. I in February, 1917, the Second Company took part in the battalion raid l carried out by the Second Auckland ! at. Fleurbaix and many of its mem- • hers were interested spectators of the i truce which succeeded the raid when stretcher-bearers from both sides colI lected the wounded from No Man’s ! Land, while opposing riflemen lined j l he parapets. Storm Breaks on the Somme. The forces nf the New Zealanders were increased by the addition of an-

%_— other brigade, involx‘ring the formation of a. third \Vaikato Company, and in June, 1917, all three companies took part. in the Battle of .\lessines. The Auckland battalions remained in occupation of the newly-captured front, occupying a line of isolated posts when the area was thoroughly combcd from air by the German aviator, ltichthoven and his circus. in October all the companies were engaged at Passchcndulc. but during the winter the battalions gained comparative peace in the line near the “Butte” at Polygon Wood. \Vhen the storm broke on the Somme on March 21, the New Zealanders were. rushed south to aid in filling the gap that. had been torn in the British line. On May 26 they gained contact with the advancing Germans many miles inside the old British front line. First Auckland was one of the battalions that led the counter attack and the First \\'aikatos, in the face of severe fire. stormed the Serra Road and contributed largely to the halvlalion's success in throwinsi the leading Germans back on their supports. Second Auckland took over} from the mile Brigade Battalion during‘ the night. .\‘cxt midday the German advance continued and soldiers wear—l ing m'erconts and packs adVanred under rover of a heavy mnv'hine gun bar-i rage, the Second \\'uikntos tu-cakins‘ ‘ up this attack with lmwis gun fire. On May 30. the Second Auckland launched a surprise attack against La Signy Farm at ‘3 o‘clock in the afternoon. Here the Second \Vaikato Company greatly distinguiehcd itself and within an incredibly short. time were in pos—l session of the key to the enemy posi- ‘ tion and had capturcd many prisoners and machine guns. Till the close of the war the Wat katos were in constant touch with the enemy, taking part in the heavy fightin: that accompanied the advance from lichurerne to Le Quesnoy. It was with n. proud and now famous record mm me \\'niknlos returned in mixed 1 (mm to their liomclnnd. ‘ Llcutennnhflolnnel F. J. E. Ciosey. ‘ My“. who at our stage in France was ‘ in chnrgc ol‘ n \\‘nlimtn rompany. he—rmnc the uni, commandingr omccr and ‘ nnnunl camps were hold at liopu ‘ ”OWL lie was followed by Lieute‘nmwnnxnnni n no McFarland. who also contmnnllcrl a \\’uihntu company in yinndrrs. in morn rm‘cnt years ho was succrmimi by LicllicnzmtCommit n, \K (Elmer). \\lm sow con—siderable scrvlce with tho \\’uikutos in Franco,