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35-772: Following the outbreak of the First World War, the New Zealand government authorised the formation of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF), under the command of Major General Alexander Godley , for service abroad. By October 1914, there were sufficient volunteers to form two brigades, the New Zealand Infantry Brigade and the New Zealand Mounted Brigade . These two formations formed

70-499: A British Army officer on secondment to the New Zealand Military Forces . Upon formation, the brigade consisted of four infantry battalions: the 2nd Battalion, Auckland Regiment; the 2nd Battalion, Wellington Regiment; the 2nd Battalion, Canterbury Regiment; and the 2nd Battalion, Otago Regiment. This was later changed, though, when several battalions were swapped between the 1st and 2nd Brigades, resulting in

105-411: A Senussi invasion from Libya. The 1st Battalion fought two actions south-west of Matruh as part of a mixed force (including British, Australians, and Indians), one on Christmas Day, the other on 23 January 1916. Both were successful and broke the back of the invasion. By December 1915, the much depleted New Zealand and Australian Division had been evacuated from Gallipoli, and was placed in reserve near

140-481: A confidence vote , thus bringing Reform to power in July 1912. Following the 1914 election, Reform held only 40 seats in the 80 seat parliament. By this time only one independent MP remained, the left-wing John Payne . Neither he nor the two small workers' parties ( United Labour and Social Democrats ) in parliament were likely to ally with the right-wing Reform Party. However, the outbreak of World War I earlier in

175-601: A temporary coalition was formed with the Liberal Party . From the start of representative government in New Zealand, in the mid nineteenth century, until the 1890s, New Zealand governments were not formed on a party basis but were rather loose and shifting groups of individuals. In the 1880s and 1890s a group of politicians formed themselves into New Zealand's first true political party, the Liberals, which became

210-497: A working majority at last. Economic problems had reduced the government's popularity, and the election left Reform with only 37 seats - four short of a majority. Massey was forced to cobble together a coalition of Reform, independents, and two Liberal MPs who were later rewarded with seats in the Legislative Council . The Labour Party was gaining considerable support, causing Massey to worry that it would soon supersede

245-550: The Liberal government in 1890. It remained in power for more than two decades, testimony not only to its popular policies and dynamic leadership but also to its organisation and party structure. The opposition was initially disorganised and fractured. John Bryce was briefly recognised as Leader of the Opposition in 1891, then William Rolleston from 1891 to 1893 and William Russell from 1894 to 1901. William Massey held

280-700: The New Zealand Division , it participated in several major battles on the Western Front from 1916 to 1918 before being disbanded in 1919. There was also a 2nd Infantry Brigade in the New Zealand Territorial Force that existed from 1924 to 1964. It was formed in Egypt in 1916 for service with the New Zealand Division on the Western Front . Its original commander was Brigadier General William Garnett Braithwaite ,

315-596: The New Zealand Labour Party , which became the official opposition. Several Labour MPs were jailed for their anti-conscription activities or for refusing military service. The coalition became increasingly difficult to manage, due partly to a personality clash between Massey and Ward. Following the end of the war in November 1918, the coalition dissolved, the two parties fought the subsequent election separately. Reform won an additional six seats, gaining

350-731: The New Zealand Staff Corps , supervised by Fulton. The main body of the regiment, around 2,200 soldiers, arrived at the end of the following month. Over 600 of these were from the Wellington Military District, while Auckland, Canterbury and Otago contributed over 500 soldiers each. In contrast to how the rest of the NZEF had been organised, the regiment had no provincial identity. Instead, battalions and companies had numerical designators. Thus, Fulton took command of 1st Battalion while Lieutenant Colonel Stewart

385-604: The Suez Canal . Since the deployment of the main body of the NZEF, the numbers of volunteers had steadily increased to the point that they could no longer be integrated into either of the two existing brigades. In January 1916, the commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force in Egypt, Lieutenant General Sir Archibald Murray , proposed the number of available New Zealand personnel warranted

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420-741: The 1925 election, the Liberal Party reconstituted itself as the United Party and regained some of its lost popularity. Reform and United each won 27 seats, with the Labour Party holding the balance of power with 19. Labour were long-term opponents of Reform and supported United, enabling United to take power. The government was led by William Massey from 10 July 1912 until his death on 10 May 1925. Francis Bell , who had earlier been Acting Prime Minister, briefly became Prime Minister (from 14 to 30 May 1925) but declined his party's offer of

455-712: The 1st Battalions of the Canterbury and Otago Regiments replacing the 2nd Battalions of the Auckland and Wellington Regiments. This placed all the North Island battalions in the 1st Brigade while all the South Island formations were in the 2nd Brigade. Brigadier General Herbert Hart took over as brigade commander in February 1918, after the 4th Brigade was disbanded due to manpower constraints. At this time,

490-544: The 2nd Brigade received a large number of reinforcements from the 4th Brigade. The brigade fought in several major engagements including the Battles of Broodseinde , Messines and Passchendaele . It was disbanded in early 1919 following the cessation of hostilities in Europe. There was also a formation in the New Zealand Territorial Force (TF) that from 1924 was designated 2nd Infantry Brigade until 1964 at which time it

525-575: The 7th Reinforcements on 10 October 1915 aboard the transports Maunganui and Tahiti . Fulton's 1st Battalion arrived at Cairo on 14 November; the Tahiti , carrying the 2nd Battalion, was travelling to Suez via Colombo, and the men it was carrying would not arrive at the camp being set up near Cairo for a few more days. The 1st and 2nd Battalions were attached for duties with the Western Frontier Force , which had been raised to counter

560-654: The BBC, the "Staffordshire County Council will be using laser-scanning technology to re-create the site as a 3D interactive model that can be explored online." Some of the personnel of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade were highly decorated, including two soldiers that were awarded the Victoria Cross ; Lance Corporal Samuel Frickleton and Sergeant Harry Laurent . Two of the brigade's commanders, Brigadier Generals Hart and Melvill, were made Companions of

595-618: The French Croix de Guerre and 16 soldiers received the Belgian equivalent. Reform Government of New Zealand The Reform Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 1912 to 1928, led by the conservative Reform Party . It is probably best remembered for its anti- trade union stance in the Waihi miners' strike of 1912 and a dockworkers' strike the following year. It governed during World War I, during which

630-663: The Gallipoli peninsula. Over time, the nickname was shortened to "The Dinks", and the brigade's personnel took pride in it as the nickname began to be used in a more respectful context as it established its reputation on the Western Front. The Duke of Connaught was appointed Colonel-in-Chief in 1916. The unit had a Harlequin Great Dane dog called Freda, as a mascot, which died in England in 1918. A marble memorial to

665-468: The Liberals. Labour continued to grow in popularity, and in the 1925 election gained more seats than the Liberals. The two parties were competing for many of the same voters, and for the anti-government vote in particular, and this worked to Reform's benefit. Although the party gained an additional 18 seats, its share of the vote rose by only 8.3%, suggesting that it benefitted from vote-splitting in many electorates. Following its disastrous performance in

700-688: The Order of the Bath . In addition, Melvill was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George along with Brigadier Generals Fulton and Stewart. There were also three appointments to the Order of the British Empire . In addition, the following decorations were awarded to brigade personnel: Some 126 individuals were mentioned in dispatches , several more than once. There were also several foreign decorations awarded; there were 21 recipients of

735-427: The afternoon for sightseeing. An education programme was implemented although many men were more interested in returning to New Zealand. The NZEF had begun demobilising on 26 December 1918 and by the end of the following month, up to 1,000 personnel were leaving each week for England to catch ships destined for New Zealand. By mid-January 1919, the brigade's normal complement of four battalions had been reduced to two with

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770-460: The battalion as "Square Dinkums" but with disrespect, and this was later applied to the brigade as a whole once it had been assembled. Another possibility for the nickname is that following the 1st Battalion's engagement of December 1915 at Mersa Matruh against the Senussi, Gallipoli veterans ironically referred to it as "a fair dinkum fight", comparing to the much more intensive action experienced on

805-524: The dog can be found on Cannock Chase in Staffordshire . In September 2013, it was reported that Staffordshire County Council would excavate the World War I model battlefield near Brocton, Staffordshire , which had been constructed by German Prisoners of War held in a camp on nearby Cannock Chase and guarded by soldiers of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade (Earl of Liverpool's Own). The model of

840-472: The establishment of a New Zealand infantry division for service on the Western Front . The New Zealand government concurred after Murray provided assurances that there was sufficient NZEF personnel in Egypt to keep the new division up to strength in the short term. To form the new infantry division, the original New Zealand Infantry Brigade was redesignated as the 1st Infantry Brigade while three battalions of reinforcements already in Egypt, with another inbound,

875-480: The final units being disbanded on 4 February 1919. The brigade was nicknamed The Dinks although its origin is unclear. It is generally understood to be a contraction of "Dinkum", meaning having excellence and quality. The nickname itself appears to date to the arrival of the 2nd Battalion in Egypt. The newly arrived personnel sought to maintain high standards of presentation and drill which the Gallipoli veterans also in Egypt considered to be excessive. They referred to

910-420: The job on a permanent basis. Gordon Coates was then appointed from 30 May 1925, and held the position until 10 December 1928, as his party was defeated in the 1928 general election . 2nd Infantry Brigade (New Zealand) The 2nd Infantry Brigade was a formation of the New Zealand Military Forces raised for service abroad with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force during the First World War. As part of

945-571: The main body of the NZEF and, together with the Australian 4th Infantry Brigade and the 1st Light Horse Brigade , were the basis of the New Zealand and Australian Division , which fought in the Gallipoli campaign against the Turks . In the meantime, another regiment of infantry was being raised, with effect from 1 May 1915. This regiment, the precursor to the New Zealand Rifle Brigade (NZRB),

980-533: The position from 1903, and by 1909 the opposition had coalesced into a new party known as the Reform Party under Massey's leadership. Although the 1911 election saw Reform win 37 seats to the Liberal Party's 33, the balance of power was held by several independent Members of Parliament , who supported the Liberals. Over the next few months, however, enough switched sides for the Liberal government to lose

1015-488: The size of a brigade. By this time, the Trentham Regiment's designation had been abolished and it was now officially known as the New Zealand Rifle Brigade (Earl of Liverpool's Own). The first personnel, the officers and non-commissioned officers, for the first two battalions of what was then the Trentham Regiment arrived at Trentham Camp, near Wellington, in late April 1915 for a period of instruction by staff of

1050-729: The vast majority of the battles of 1916, 1917 and 1918. Notable examples include: The NZRB, as part of the New Zealand Division, formed part of II Corps of the Second Army , assigned to the Army of Occupation on the Rhine. The NZRB made its way to Cologne, where it was to be stationed, on foot, beginning its march from France on 28 November 1918. It arrived at Cologne on 22 December 1918. Its occupation duties were light, with morning parades and training sessions leaving time in

1085-460: The village and surrounding area of Messines in Belgium, which included replica trenches and dugouts, railway lines, roads, and accurate contours of the surrounding terrain, would be open to public view for a few weeks before being buried over again to ensure its preservation. The excavation has revealed details of the 40 metre square battlefield which is said to be perfectly preserved. According to

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1120-503: The year had created a need for national unity, and a hitherto unlikely coalition was formed between Reform and the party Reform had been set up to defeat, the Liberals. Massey retained his position as Prime Minister , with Liberal leader Joseph Ward becoming unofficial co-leader. Payne also supported the war, but both United Labour and the Social Democrats were against it, especially conscription . In 1916 they combined to form

1155-464: Was in charge of 2nd Battalion. The regiment underwent training for the next few months, disrupted by a move to a camp near Palmerston North after an outbreak of meningitis at Trentham. Poor weather had also affected the camp grounds. In September 1915, an advance party of 50 men from both battalions were dispatched to Egypt via the Suez, with the rest of the two battalions to follow the following month with

1190-415: Was to consist of two infantry battalions and was originally known as the Trentham Regiment (The Earl of Liverpool's Own). The two battalions were placed under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Harry Fulton . Later, as the first two battalions finished its training in New Zealand, the government decided to increase the strength of the regiment by adding two further battalions, thus bringing the regiment up to

1225-511: Was to form the 2nd Infantry Brigade . The two battalions of the NZRB in transit to Egypt from New Zealand would join the two battalions already in Egypt to form the completed third brigade of the division. The 3rd and 4th duly arrived in mid-March 1916 and after a period of reorganisation the full brigade left Alexandria on 7 April for France. After a period of training the brigade entered the line on 13 May east of Armentières . It participated in

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