Second Canterbury, Nelson, Marlborough and West Coast Battalion Group.

Third Auckland (Countess of Ranfurly's Own) and Northland Battalion Group.

Fourth Otago and Southland Battalion Group.

Fifth Wellington, West Coast and Taranaki Battalion Group.

Seventh Wellington (City of Wellington's Own) and Hawke's Bay Battalion Group.

The Army Reserve is the part-time component of New Zealand's Army, with a mission to provide trained individual volunteers and formed groups of soldiers for overseas operations.

Value of the Reserves

History

The Battalion has a proud history dating back to the South African War of 1899-1902 when troops from the region went overseas for the first time. In WW1 the four local regiments which make up the modern battalion each provided a 250 man company to the Canterbury Infantry Regiment. In 1916 this regiment was expanded to two battalions. During WW2 the local Territorial Force regiments again provided troops, this time to the 20th, 23rd and 26th battalions of the New Zealand Division. The current battalion's battle honours represent the actions fought by the composite battalions in these wars.

More recently, over 140 members of the unit served in East Timor between 1999 and 2002, while other members of the unit have recently returned to East Timor to serve with the current peacekeeping mission. In 2006, the Battalion provided a complete Platoon of Soldiers for service in the Solomon Islands, becoming the first Reserve-led deployment since World War II.

This page was last reviewed on 30 August 2010, and is current.