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 history of the 4th Battalion (Otago and Southland) Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment can be traced back to February 1860 when the Dunedin and Invercargill Militia Battalions were established. The militiamen of the day were not volunteer soldiers as all males between the age of 18 and 60 were liable for military service at that time. In 1861 the Tokomairiro and Clutha Battalions were formed. Local enthusiasm was not enough to gain Government recognition so volunteer soldiering was conducted on a quasi-official manner for some time. The first officially recognised volunteer unit in the Otago and Southland provinces was the Otago Rifle Volunteers, which was gazetted as a Company on 5th February 1862. In 1898 the 1st Battalion Otago Rifle Volunteers was established. The formation of this unit apparently stimulated further public interest as by 1892 the Battalion consisted of fifteen Rifle Companies.

During World War I the provinces produced the Otago Regiment with companies from the 4th Otago, 8th Southland, 10th North Otago and 20th South Otago battalions. The Otago Regiment served with distinction in Gallipoli and France taking particularly heavy losses in the battle of Passchendaele. New Zealand's most decorated soldier ever, Sgt Dick Travis earned his VC and other medals serving with the Otago Regiment.

During World War II Otago and Southland personnel served mainly with the 20th, 23rd, and 26th Battalions in the Middle East and with the 30th and 37th Battalions of the 3rd New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Pacific.

In 1948 the Otago Regiment and the Southland Regiment were amalgamated to form the 1st Battalion Otago and Southland Regiment. With the introduction of a single New Zealand Infantry Regiment in 1964, the battalion was re-named the 4th Battalion (Otago and Southland) Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment.

Since World War II, members of the unit have served in a variety of places across the world, including East Timor, the Solomon Islands, Korea and the Sinai. Members of the Battalion served as part of the historic Army Reserve deployment to the Solomon Islands in 2006, which was the first time that Reserve soldiers formed the majority of an overseas deployment since World War II.

This page was last reviewed on 28 May 2009, and is current.