N e w s l e t t e r of the 6 t h ( H a u r a k i ) B a t t a l i o n Group

KIA KAHA Whakatangata Kia Kaha

Spring 2006 ISSN: 1 177 5335

FROM T H E EDITOR

The Editor of Kia Kaha invites the contribution of articles to this newsletter at any time. Please refer to the back page for address and e-mail details for contributions.

Comments expressed in this newsletter do not represent official statements, rather they are the opinion of individual

contributors.

This newsletter is sent to affili¬ated units and other interested parties. Additional copies are available if required.

Please direct all enquiries to: Headquarters, 6 Hau, PO Box 2146, Tauranga.

C O L t C o l W J Banks

2IC Maj A Patterson

RSM W O 1 D Mills

Adj t Capt J O'Reilly

TrgO Maj R Earp

O C WMR Maj S Marriott

O C A Capt V Copeland

O C D Lt P Heming (Acting)

O C OSC Capt P Eady (Acting)

Farewell to Commanding Officer & Senior Weapons Instructor The Battal ion G r o u p fare-wel led t w o of it's long-standing m e m ­bers, f o r m e r C o m ­manding Off icer, Lt Co l John Dick, and the Senior Weapons In­s t ruc tor , W a r r a n t Of ­f icer Class O n e Gary Ellis, at a Regimental D inner on Saturday 12 August. Seventy one Off icers, W a r r a n t Of¬ficers and Senior N o n Commiss ioned Offi¬cers and partners at¬tended a dinner at t he Tauranga Re¬tu rned Services Asso¬ciat ion Club premises. The dinner was run jo in t ly by the Presi­dent's o f the Mess Commi t tee 's Maj Alan

The C O , Lt Co l Banks, presents Lt Co l D ick

w i t h an I l luminated Address.

Paterson and W O I Gladys Dick. Preced¬ing the dinner, was the fo rmal exchange of the Regiment's C o l o u r between the incoming and outgoing Com¬m a n d i n g O f f i c e r ' s . This significant event was staged at Tau-ranga's histor ic "E lms" h o m e s t e a d . M o r e proper ly re fer red t o

as " T e Papa," this homestead was bui l t by CMS missionary Rev. B r o w n and was the site o f the (locally) famous dinner o f eight off icers the night be¬fo re the batt le o f Gate Pa—at wh ich event mos t o f those off icer's w e r e kil led the fo l l ow­ing day. For fu r the r

details t u rn t o page X .

Platoon commander selected for soccer team

2LT Kate Wawa ta i , the Recrui t Platoon commander , has been selected t o part ic ipate in the N Z Defence Force soccer team tha t is t o t o u r Austra¬l i a . T h e N Z D F women 's team has a

t ra in ing camp in T r e n -tham f r o m the 2 3 r d -2 7 t h o f O c t o b e r . The team then tou rs Aus¬tral ia f r o m the 2 8 t h o f O c t o b e r - 5 Nov , playing six games of soccer against Austra¬lian army and civilian

teams. It is great t o see a g row ing number o f players and sup¬por te rs f o r A r m y women 's Soccer. 6 Hau is p roud of 2LT Wawa ta i and her re¬cen t ach ievements .

W e l l done! rs

PAGE 2 K IA K A H A ISSN: 1177 5335

Harding Cup held in Tauranga "Congratulations to you all who organised and took part in the Harding Cup." HON COL Chris McGuire

Tha t t h e Hard ing C u p was a great organizat ional success f o r 6 Hau is ref lected in remarks passed by the RSM, W O 1 Dave Mil ls. H e said, in par t ; "I would like to pass on special thanks to the CO, who has been very busy of late, but he made the time to come to the powhiri and spoke for the first time on the marae, well done Sir, excellent. To WOI Ririnui, George, thank you very much for all your support this weekend with the marae, sports grounds and rugby club; it was a huge success and this can be attributed to that support— excellent. To the SWI and the ca¬dets, huge thanks, you made things

so much easier."

T h e C O had th i s t o say; "Yesterday after the Harding Cup I spent much of the day with the TFA in the HQ. He was very pleased that the Harding Cup was held due to the esprit de Corp that develops between the units, or Whanauna Tanga. He was very complimentary about the organisation of the events and the feeling he got from the day. The organisation was pretty much down to a handful of people. The RSM led the programme, willingly supported by Mr Ririnui, Mr Galvin, the Adju¬tant and the Training Warrant Offi-

cer. Thinking right back, it was Mr Waugh that sent out a notice to get the Rugby players on the go. Ngati Hei, the cadets from Taupo and Opotiki, the referees, the cooks all contributed to make it what it was. We even made a few $$ for the UPF and thanks to SSgt's Rose and Hold-man and others for that. At the end of the day we as the Hau-raki's showed the rest of the Bn's how to organise an event, how to care for others, how to have fun. I cannot think of a single hitch in the

day." rs

Land Component Commander issues his 'intent'

In issue 362 of the Army News, the Land Component Commander, BRIG Phil Gib­bons, outlined his intent for the land component. Extracts of this article follow.

" . . . W e m u s t s t r ive f o r exce l lence in eve ry th i ng w e d o , w h e t h e r o n o p e r a ­t i ons o r in t r a i n i ng in N e w Zea land . . . . w e need t o l ive by o u r e thos and

values, and c o m m i t fu l ly t o eve ry th i ng w e do—espec ia l l y t h o s e o f us in lead-

e rsh ip pos i t i ons .

" . a d o p t t h e c o n c e p t o f managed readiness, de f ined as "des ignat ing par t i cu la r uni ts o r sub-un i ts as lead

f o r ces f o r po ten t i a l d e p l o y m e n t " .

" . . . Managing t h e t e m p o w i t h i n t h e

f o r m a t i o n s and uni ts m u s t be b e t t e r u n d e r s t o o d . W e m u s t have t h e cour¬age and in teg r i t y t o l im i t se l f - imposed

t e m p o . "

" Leade rs a t eve ry level m u s t ensu re

t h a t t r a i n i n g s y n c h r o n i z a t i o n is

ach ieved w i t h i n t h e Land C o m p o n e n t

and w i t h A T G . "

" B y s t r i v ing f o r exce l lence , establish¬ing a p p r o p r i a t e readiness measures , managing o u r t e m p o , and ensur ing o u r act iv i t ies are synch ron i sed w e

Regular Force staff retire after long service SSgt Blaize Rob inson t o o k his release f r o m t h e N Z A r m y o n t h e 2 2 n d O c t 06 a f te r c o m p l e t i n g 20 years serv ice w i t h t h e

R N Z I R and 1 N Z S A S G p . H e was p o s t e d t o 6 ( H A U ) in t h e D e c 03 and c o m p l e t e d jus t o v e r 2.5 y rs as a C a d r e N C O . H e

has t a k e n up a civi l ian j o b w o r k i n g f o r V H I T G (Ver t i ca l H o r i z o n Indust r ia l T ra in i ng G r o u p ) N Z in Tauranga. H e is r espons i ­

ble f o r organis ing all t h e i r D r i v e r T r a i n i n g C o u r s e s t h r o u g h o u t N Z . V H I T G w i l l ut i l ize his [many ] o t h e r skills w h e n r e ­

q u i r e d . H e has also j o i n e d t h e TF 1 N Z S A S G p t o c o n t i n u e o n his m i l i t a ry career . O f n o t e , his w i f e has jus t had t h e i r f o u r t h

ch i ld , Isaac and is a n e w add i t i on t o t h e fami ly . M o t h e r and baby are all w e l l .

W O 2 T a i k a t o takes his release f r o m t h e N Z A r m y o n t h e 01 M a r 0 7 a f te r c o m p l e t i n g 22 years serv ice w i t h R N Z I R . W h i l s t his t e r m i n a l date is t h e 01 M a r 07 , he w i l l actual ly leave N Z shores f o r Aus t ra l i a m id D e c 06 w h e r e he w i l l m e e t up w i t h his fami ly w h o a re a l ready t h e r e . W O 2 Ta i ka to j o i n e d 6 ( H A U ) in D e c 04 and w i l l have se rved 2 y rs w i t h t h e U n i t un t i l he

takes his leave.

RSM WO I D Mills

ii _r From all of us To all of you

Merry Christmas &

A Happy New Year! A M k I V .1

I I

The Hauraki March Presented (See images on next page.)

The Hauraki Bn Group may not have a band, however they do now have a march, The

Hauraki March. They are the only N Z unit t o have an original March.

Wel l know musician and march wr i te r John Gibbons f rom Te Awamutu and now in his 80 t h year, w ro te the march specifically for the Bn while Gavin Marr io t t of Cambridge

w r o t e the lyrics.

On the 23 September 06 Gavin Marr io t t arranged a concert in the Te Awamutu Events centre t o hand over the March t o Lt Col Warren Banks, C O of the Hauraki Bn. The C O acknowledged the wonderful gesture and commented that now John was part of the Hauraki history. In return Mr Gibbon was presented wi th a copy of the Hauraki Off i­cial History "Comrades Brave" CO's commendation and gold plated collar dog.

A comprehensive programme of Sousa, Al ford and Gibbons was presented by the Bands of the Royal Regt of Art i l lery, RNZAF Auckland Brass Quintet, the Te Awamutu Brass

Band and the Piako Band.

John Gibbons has now composed 30 Marches since 1946 including the Rangitata, O n ­ward, Piako and Roses of Te Awamutu. The event was also attended by Col Steve Frank­lin, Deputy Commander 2LFG.

The Lyrics are:

In eighteen ninety eight down Paeroa way

The Sixths born a battalion of renowned fame

Hauraki men did show their name

In battles these Kiwi gave, all away

Remember Trooper Bradford who led the way

From here Maori Battalion and Freyberg came

Hauraki men and women train

In Tauranga where they serve, today

Bay of Plenty, Waikato

Coromandel, King Country

Whakatangata, Kia Kaha

Acquit yourselves, like men, be strong

Whakatangata Kia Kaha

The blue and golds Hauraki March

Hauraki March Handed Over.

Congratulations all round on an excellent

effort!

(L t o R) C O LTCOL Banks, Composer John Gibbons, 2IC MAJ Pat¬terson, Facilitator Gavin Marr io t t and HAURAKI Distr ict Council

MAYOR John Tregida

The C O ( L ) accepts the new march. The Ar¬ti l lery band in the back¬ground have just played

the march.

(L t o R) The CO, 2IC and the Composer,

John Gibbons.

R E G I O N A L S T O S E R V I C E S . . . A U S S I E H E R E W E C O M E An article by 2LT Kate Wawatai.

Burnham showed us fine wea ther f o r the men's and women 's army regional's; held f r o m the 4 t h - 1 1 t h o f August 2006. N o r t h e r n , Cent ra l and Southern teams competed in f r o n t o f the army team selectors t o represent the i r regions and show the i r talent. The compet i t i on was a hard batt le w i t h the central teams coming ou t on top . The final funct ion was held and the 2006 A r m y men's and women 's teams w e r e

named.

O n the 2 9 t h of August the army soccer teams began the i r week long training camp in Hobsonvi l le. W i t h t w o a day trainings and games against Papakura, Auck land Gir ls Grammar and Glenfield Rovers the A r m y women 's team fel t ready f o r the Services tournament . The N Z D F Soccer services t ou rnamen t was hosted by Navy and was a held at D e v o n p o r t Navy base. The opening funct ion proved an early night as the next morn ing the A r m y w o m e n played the Navy. The game was wel l played by both sides w i t h Navy scor ing the f i rs t and second goal. Going in to the 2 n d half t w o nil d o w n , was no t the original plan f o r the army w o m e n however w e made do. In the second half the army defence was unbreakable and the str ikers and midfield w o r k e d wel l t o secure th ree goals in the second half. W i t h the final score, 2 - 3 t o the

A r m y .

The fo l lowing day the A i r fo rce proved s t rong compet i to rs beating the Navy by fou r goals. This left the final game against the A r m y and the A i r force. Nerves w e r e at an all t ime high going into the final game, bo th teams wanted the winn ing t i t le . The f i rst half saw a high standard of soccer, w i t h the army defence cut t ing d o w n str iker 's angles and the wings and mids of both teams playing some amazing th rough balls t o the str ikers. By the second half the score was 2 - 1 t o the A i r force. The half t ime talk f r o m the A r m y W o m e n ' s coach SSgt Steve Parri and assistant coach Cpl Stacey Lock was straight t o the point . The army ladies had w o r k e d ext remely hard t o get this far and w e could no t let the A i r force take it. W i t h i n 5 min¬utes o f the second half A r m y had evened the score. The rest of the second half was a battle t o say the least. Hard but fair tackles w e r e being made, co rne r kicks w e r e precisely placed but the defence was un¬breakable, penalty shots w e r e as hard and fast as the keepers bodies were , and the skill in the army mid-field cut d o w n the A i r force oppor tun i t ies at goal. W i t h less then 10 minutes t o go i t finally came, unfor¬tunately f o r army, an oppor tun i t y was ceased by A i r force securing t hem the final and winn ing goal f o r the W o m e n ' s tou rnament . The cheers f r o m the A i r fo rce team and suppor ters w e r e almost unbearable as each of the army players hung the i r heads w i t h disbelief. There was no t ime t o dwel l on the game how¬ever, as the army men had also made the final against the A i r fo rce so i t was t ime t o suppor t t hem. Un¬for tunate ly they t o o fe l t the w r a t h of the A i r fo rce in another close game.

The final funct ion saw the A i r force take the i r wel l deserved t roph ies and finally the W o m e n ' s Defence fo rce team was named by the Coach W O 1 Daryl Bur ton , seven A r m y ladies w e r e privi leged enough t o be named as par t of the 20 s t rong side. The named players w e r e f r o m Burnham, L inton, 5 W W C T and 6 H A U . Congratu lat ions t o Spr J. Mi lburn, G n r A. Green, Spr A . Okeefe, Pte E. C lementson, LCpl A . Hall

and Ms N. Vunipoloa.

2LT KATE W A W A T A I : was bo rn in Whakatane, b rought up in Kawerau and at tended high school there . Studied Biology and Earth Science (Animals and d i r t ) at W a i k a t o Universi ty and jo ined the TF in her sec­ond year at Universi ty. She has been w i t h 6 Hauraki Bn Gp f o r 3 years. 2 L T W a w a t a i has b e e n s e ­l e c t e d for t h e N Z D e f e n c e s ide and is privi leged t o have the oppor tun i t y t o represent her count ry

and the Defence Force at such a skillful and beautiful spo r t such as soccer.

ISSN: 1177 5335 KIA K A H A PAGE 7

Long Service Recognised

L T PG H e m i n g receives a clasp t o his Eff iciency C P L KS Davy receives his Eff iciency Meda l f o r 12

Meda l , c o m p l e t e d w h e n he held t h e r a n k o f W O 1. years ef f ic ient serv ice.

Regular force staff change over T w o o f t he Batta l ion group 's hardest w o r k i n g staff w e r e pos ted o u t o f t h e uni t in December . The Ad ju tan t , Capta in John O'Rei l ly , and t h e R.S.M., W O 1 Dave Mills, left t he uni t f o r n e w jobs; t he Ad ju tan t t o Intel l igence in W e l l i n g t o n and the RSM t o RSM 2/1 Batta l ion in L in ton . " T h e r e can be no d o u b t t ha t bo th individuals have made a significant c o n t r i b u t i o n t o t h e runn ing o f t he un i t . " c o m m e n t e d t h e C O L T C O L Banks.

Goff Appoints Territorial Employer Support Committee Defence Minister Phil Goff, announced, o n 28 July, t he appo in tmen t o f nine N e w Zealanders t o be inaugural m e m ­bers o f t he Te r r i t o r i a l Forces Employer Suppor t C o m m i t t e e .

"The c o m m i t t e e was established by the Vo lun teers Employment Pro tec t ion A c t 2004 and aims t o increase the effect ive­ness o f N e w Zealand's t e r r i t o r i a l mili¬ta ry forces by gaining and enhancing t h e

suppor t o f employers .

employers and also act as a valuable communica t ions channel be tween em¬ployers organisat ions, communi t ies and t h e mi l i tary", said M r Go f f

T h e fo l lowing w e r e today appointed t o

t he commi t t ee :

• David M c G r e g o r as a representa­

t ive o f t he Auck land reg ion;

• T e d D e a n as a r e p r e s e n t a t i v e

sentative o f Business N e w Zealand;

• Lindsay Taiaroa as a representat ive

o f t he Vice Chancel lors associat ion;

• T i m B rewer as the D i r e c t o r

Genera l o f Reserve Forces

John A l len was appointed t o t h e posi¬t i o n o f Chai r o f t h e Te r r i t o r i a l Forces Employer Suppor t Counc i l in Augus t 2005. Local G o v e r n m e n t and t rade

un ion representat ives w i l l be added t o

t h e c o m m i t t e e in t h e near fu tu re .

T h e Employer Suppo r t C o m m i t t e e

representat ive f o r t he 6 Hau rohe is:

T e d D e a n O N Z M , M a n a g e r , F i n a n ­c ia l O p e r a t i o n s a t t h e M i n i s t r y o f S o c i a l D e v e l o p m e n t ( M S D ) in R o -t o r u a . M r D e a n is a r e t i r e d T e r r i ­t o r i a l F o r c e B r i g a d i e r a n d is w e l l k n o w n in t h e a r e a . M S D wi l l b e a k e y c o n t a c t f o r t h e T F E S C . T e d D e a n is a f o r m e r C O o f 6 H a u .

"The c o m m i t t e e wi l l consist o f a Chair, six regional chairs, a t rade un ion repre¬sentative, an employer representat ive, an educat ion / t ra in ing representat ive, a local gove rnmen t agency representat ive

and t h e D i r e c t o r Genera l o f Reserve

Forces.

"Te r r i t o r i a l mi l i tary personnel w o r k as par t t ime members o f t he a rmed forces in add i t ion t o hold ing d o w n full t i m e jobs, o t h e r par t t ime jobs o r studying. T h e employer suppor t c o m m i t t e e w i l l play a key ro le in educating employers abou t t h e benefits o f par t t i m e mi l i tary service t o individuals and in t u r n t o

of t h e W a i k a t o / T a u r a n g a r e g i o n ;

• Mary Bourke as a representat ive o f

t he Manawatu / Taranaki / Kapit i reg ion;

• Raymond Lind as a representat ive

o f t he W e l l i n g t o n / Hawkes Bay reg ion;

• Sandra Manderson as a representa¬

t ive o f t he Chr i s tchurch / Upper South

Island reg ion;

• Julian Smith as a representat ive o f

t he O t a g o / Southland reg ion;

• Rodger K e r r - N e w e l l as a rep re - rs

Farewell Dinner snapshots 12 August

(L t o R); W O I Syd Mounsey, Lt Co l D ick and

Capt Copeland entertains the Mess Above and Below:

(Above) Maj Ma r r i o t t (L) in conver­

sation w i t h Lt Heming

Some notes about the Dinner The commencement of the farewel l d inner f o r L T C O L D ick ( C O ) and wa r ran t Of f icer Class O n e Ellis (SWI) was at the histor ic Tauranga homestead the "Elms." The guests assembled at the very p re t ty homestead and grounds at 1630 and, after a briefing, f o rmed up in t w o parallel lines w i t h the C O , for¬mer C O and H o n Co l at the head, th rough wh ich the Regimental C o l o u r was marched. The Regimen¬tal C o l o u r was presented t o L T C O L Dick, w h o then passed it t o the H o n o r a r y Co lone l , w h o in t u r n presented it t o the cu r ren t C O L T C O L Banks. The Regimental C o l o u r was then marched off and re¬moved back t o the depot . This ceremony was presided over by the Adju tant , Captain O'Reil ly, and the RSM, W a r r a n t Of f icer Class O n e Mills, and was carr ied ou t in a dignified manner as bef i t ted both the venue and the occasion. The significance of the use of this venue lies in o u r presence as un i formed personnel , some of w h o m w e r e armed (the C o l o u r escor t ) , and o u r relat ionship w i t h tangata whenua, dating back t o 1864. It is t o be remembered the Rev B rown , of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) was missionary t o the Maori 's at the t ime and so his hosting of Imperial off icers at a t ime of war , and especially in t ime p rox im i t y t o the Gate Pa conf l ict ( the fo l lowing day), caused tangata whenua t o have grave suspicions of B r o w n .

Much cred i t is due t o L T C O L Banks, the governing Board of the Elms p rope r t y and tangata whenua in al lowing the funct ion t o proceed. A f t e r the dispatch of the Regimental C o l o u r the large g roup was broken in to smaller groups and conducted on a t o u r of the p roper ty . Those w h o had part ic ipated in the T.E.W.T. earl ier in the day benefited part icular ly f r o m the t o u r and the knowledge gained, given that the T.E.W.T. was conducted on the Gate Pa site, w h e r e many of the off icer's w h o dined at the Elms w e r e t o be kil led the next day. A f t e r the tou r , members gathered f o r a quiet p o r t and cigarette ( for some), and as the tw i l igh t descended the group then moved off t o the Tauranga RSA venue fo r the formal dinner. In the an te - room p r i o r t o sitt ing d o w n fo r dinner, the conversat ion was animated and convivial, w i t h a very satisfactory atmosphere of comradeship being present. Ray Crafts piped all in to the dinner, as he has done f o r many years, and enjoyed the of fered 'wee dram. ' Upon being seated PMC W O I D ick prov ided a br ief f o r the sequence t o the dinner. There w e r e four teen seated at the

t o p table.

PMC MAJ Paterson in t roduced Gavin Ma r r i o t t (no relat ion t o MAJ Simon M a r r i o t t - O C W M R , also present) w h o presented t o the Battal ion G roup , the Regimental March that he had specially commis¬sioned. Gavin commented on the lack of any original march music f o r the N Z A r m y . The music was w r i t t e n by p rominen t Te A w a m u t u composer John Gibbons, w i t h original w o r d s penned by Gavin Mar r io t t . Gavin also thanked L T C O L D ick f o r his outstanding suppor t of his (Gavin Marr io t t ' s ) efforts in gett ing the pro jec t underway. Gavin then played a record ing of a po r t i on of the music, before con¬cluding that in his research of the Battalion Group 's h is tory he had revealed an absolutely engaging and interest ing h is tory that w e all ought t o be enormous ly p roud of. The march wi l l be formal ly and pub¬licly presented t o the Battalion G r o u p at Te A w a m u t u in September 2006.

Fol lowing this presentat ion, was the presentat ion of the second clasp t o the Efficiency Medal t o W a r ­rant Of f icer Class O n e George Rir inui. W O I Ririnui enlisted on 26 N o v e m b e r 1979, was awarded the f i rst clasp t o the efficiency Medal in 1998, recognizing eighteen years efficient service. The cu r ren t (second) clasp recognizes 24 years efficient service. The C O s tood and of fered the commen t on W O I ' s award that the giving of 24 years cont inuous service t o a single organizat ion is a huge achieve¬ment. It seemed incongruous that this recogni t ion is just a small clasp on a medal seldom w o r n ! L T C O L Banks thanked W O I Ririnui on behalf o f the Battalion G r o u p fo r his dil igent and consistent

service.

A f t e r a c o m f o r t stop the various ' toasts' w e r e of fered. M r Vice proposed the toast t o the Queen ; the H o n o r a r y Co lone l proposed t o the Battalion G roup , and the PMC, MAJ Paterson, proposed the toast t o the partners. In proposing this toast the PMC acknowledged the considerable sacrifice that partners

make in al lowing us t o fulfill o u r soldering ambit ions.

PMC W O I D ick then invited the SWI , W a r r a n t Of f icer Class O n e Galvin, t o make some farewel l re-

marks t o W a r r a n t Of f icer Class O n e Gary Ellis, w h o leaves the Battal ion G r o u p t o take up the post of Senior TF W a r r a n t O f f i ce r—2 Land Force Group . W O I Galvin ta lked about D Company jo ining the Bat­tal ion and along w i t h i t Gary Ellis. He said tha t the D Company c r e w seemed a bi t o f a pompous lot. He w e n t on t o remark tha t W O I Ellis represents, in the very best way, the ethos tha t drives A r m y and 6 Hau; asking nothing less o f his soldiers than he w o u l d do himself. W O I Ellis is met iculous in his methods. W O I Galvin concluded by remark ing the W O I Ellis has created a pathway wh ich many of ou r J N C O ' s ought t o fo l low. PMC Dick presented W O I Ellis w i t h a taiaha, after wh ich L T C O L Dick presented W O I Ellis w i t h an inscribed silver t ray. L T C O L Dick remarked, in making the presentat ion, tha t the SWI is one of the roles tha t play o u t the C O ' s personal i ty w i th in Battal ion G r o u p affairs and tha t W O I Ellis carr ied o u t this diff icult ro le wel l despite increasing family and w o r k pressures. L T C O L D ick concluded his re¬marks saying the service in the TF is about relationships among fr iends, relationships tha t t ranscend rank, and tha t Gary has been a good mate. W O I Ellis repl ied tha t he had enjoyed 27 years service w i t h the Battalion and the decision t o 'move on ' was one of the hardest decisions he has had t o make. He thanked all f o r the i r fr iendship and assured us tha t he w o u l d remain in contact w i t h the Battal ion Group . The PMC, MAJ Paterson, thanked Gary f o r his cont inuing fr iendship, wished him wel l in his new w o r k and ac¬knowledged the absence of Gary's par tner Donna, w h o has been a constant suppor t t o Gary.

Fol lowing this presentat ion the C O , L T C O L Banks, commenced t o farewel l the f o r m e r C O , L T C O L John Dick. The C O commented on his early impressions o f John D ick as an eager, enquir ing, and energetic young man on an unt i r ing quest t o build the Hauraki 's—dedicated and loyal, subsequently know n f o r his rebui lding and training of the Battal ion Group . L T C O L D ick t o o k us back t o ou r whakapapa, he has plunged us into the cultural d imension of the A r m y and o u r civilian communi t ies. He has integrated the RF into o u r TF whanau and he has suppor ted the partners involvement in Battal ion G r o u p activit ies. L T C O L Dick has b rought the w ide r service commun i ty w i th in o u r rohe in to o u r sphere of influence, es¬pecially the cadet units, but including also A i r Force, Police and Navy representat ives. The C O then pre¬sented L T C O L Dick w i t h an i l luminated Addressed, signed by sub-unit commanders and key staff and de¬signed and crafted by Ray Crafts. L T C O L D ick then repl ied t o the C O ' s remarks. L T C O L Dick, in the style t o wh ich w e have all become accustomed, commenced his reply. He stated tha t after 32 years o f service, most o f wh ich was w i t h 6 Hau, leaving is no t easy t o contemplate o r carry o u t . . . t o leave the whanau. He said tha t his mission as C O was t o rebui ld the unit, a single unit, the Battal ion Group . The establishment of new relationships and the strengthening o f o ld ones; put t ing kapa haka in place and watching i t thr ive; gett ing the boxing up and running, the cocktai l parties, dinner 's, CPX's , and all the many things tha t reinvigorate o u r Battal ion Group . L T C O L Dick ref lected on the many of o u r mil i tary whanau w h o have passed away and the great con t r ibu t ion they have made. He of fered thanks t o many people w h o made his tenure successful and so, 6 Hau. He ref lected on h o w it is tha t 6 Hau engenders such f ierce loyalty amongst it's members, h o w people go wel l beyond tha t wh ich a C O might reasonably expect. L T C O L D ick of fered impassioned thanks t o his RSM W a r r a n t Of f icer Class O n e Dave Mills, w h o was of inestimable value t o h im as C O and t o 6 Hau as a unit. My thanks, L T C O L Dick remarked, go be¬yond mere wo rds . L T C O L Dick then made a presentat ion t o the Mess. He also presented a specially de¬signed and crafted Hauraki badge t o Mrs Julia Banks, t o be passed o n t o each successive C O ' s partner, as a mark of the i r ro le as the "sen ior par tner . " A t this stage the Hono ra ry Co lone l , C O L Chr is McGui re rose t o pass a few remarks. He of fered his appreciat ion f o r all L T C O L D ick had done and regret ted tha t he ( C O L McGui re) had no t had the oppor tun i t y f o r m o r e service w i t h him. C O L McGui re remarked fu r the r tha t in his capacity as an Of f icer o f the Cour ts , he was interested in pursuing the not ion of d ivert ing indi¬viduals th rough the Cou r t s in to mil i tary (TF) service, an argument long advanced by L T C O L Dick. The Hono ra ry Co lone l extended a we lcome t o the new C O , L T C O L Banks. He also of fered thanks t o W O I Ellis and W O I Ririnui f o r the i r con t r ibu t ion t o the Battal ion G r o u p over many years. He remarked tha t it was also per t inent t o thank those Hauraki Associat ion representat ives w h o w e r e present f o r the i r atten¬dance, and f o r the i r efforts in cont inuing t o carry the Hauraki t o r c h , so-to-speak. Finally he of fered the thought tha t w e ought no t t o be dif f ident in spreading the w o r d across ou r respective communi t ies about

ou r involvement in the TF and 6 Hau specifically. W e a r the badge proudly and loudly!

A n d so i t was tha t these remarks concluded the fo rmal dinner. The t o p table ad journed t o the an te - room

whi le the remainder w e r e enter ta ined by M r Vice. rs

In The Garrison Club Later A f t e r the formal d inner was over, members w e r e invited t o adjourn t o the Garr ison Club at the De¬pot . A f t e r the gathering sett led d o w n w i t h a ' few ales', the Command ing Off icer, L T C O L Banks com¬menced t o make a few remarks. He part icular ly congratulated W O I Ririnui f o r his award of a fu r the r clasp t o his Efficiency Medal. He then presented LT Dan Waugh w i t h his commissioning parchment, fo l lowing wh ich LCPL Ross Hun te r was p r o m o t e d t o CPL. Upon this p r o m o t i o n the RSM, W O I Dave Mills, was moved t o commen t regarding the exemplary per formance of o u r J N C O ' s on the recent J N C O ' s course. It is this s t rong per formance that al lows the Battalion G r o u p t o fulfill it's potent ial in the fu ture , the RSM remarked. The C O resumed and spoke of h o w it came t o be that the handing over of the Regimental C o l o u r occur red at the histor ic Elms homestead. The C O remarked that previ¬ous at tempts t o use the Elms as a venue had no t been successful. O n this occasion the request had been granted, thanks t o a shift in posi t ion by the Iwi . This shift is the m o r e remarkable as it involves sett ing aside some long-held beliefs and moving f o r w a r d , al lowing the relat ionship between the Elms T rus t Board, the Iwi and the Battalion G r o u p t o strengthen and g r o w in a very posit ive way. The C O said that w e might all be very p roud of this. A t the point , the C O presented L T C O L D ick w i t h a copy of a compi la t ion of the Kia Kaha newslet ter cover ing his ( L T C O L Dick's) tenure as C O — f r o m 2002 t o 2006. L T C O L D ick repl ied t o this gesture by handing over the C O ' s s w o r d , remark ing that it is a very fine swo rd t o use. L T C O L Banks concluded his remarks by thanking those w h o had helped w i t h the d inner preparat ion and notably t o Ken Kennedy, Gavin Mar r io t t , RSM Mills, and PMC's Paterson and (G) Dick. A t this stage the RSM invited those w h o wished t o do so t o address the gathering t o farewel l W O I Ellis and L T C O L Dick. Many people spoke in t r ibu te , w i t h some remarks being part icular ly

heart- fel t and evocative. rs

The RSM (L) and C O place new ranks slides on The C O (L) receives the C O ' s Sword of office

newly p r o m o t e d CPL Ross Hunter . f r o m outgoing C O L T C O L John Dick.

"Two Peoples, One Land "marries an impressive breadth of research into a fascinating story that provides new assessments of events that still resonate in our lives. This is an important book that deserves to be read, and one that grips you

from the first pages. "

Christopher Pugsley, Department of War Studies,

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

ISBN 0-7900-1064-x. $39.99. Published by Reed

T W O P E O P L E S .

O N E L A N D S^^C rtsCu*- 2^6^idr.s*isc$ Uresis.

MATTHEW WRIGHT

PAGE I2 K IA K A H A ISSN: I I 7 7 5335

Battalion Identity

In Dudley McCarthy 's book, " G a l l i p o l i t o t h e S o m m e -t h e s t o r y of C . E . W . B e a n " , (ISBN 0 9 0 9 I 3 4 58 8; published John Ferguson Pty Ltd, I983.)

there is a very good descrip¬

t ion of the battal ion ent i ty.

"... A single soldier cannot per­sonally identify, in his daily occa­sions, with more men than that; but with the rest of those nine hundred his identification can be¬come for a time perhaps the most complete thing he will ever experi¬ence; something for which there is no name but which makes his

Pursuing t h e sub jec t o f t h e i den t i t y o f

t h e ba t ta l ion g r o u p i n g , w e l o o k at an

e x t r a c t f r o m M a t t h e w W r i g h t ' s b o o k

" T w o P e o p l e s , O n e L a n d , t h e

N e w Zea land w a r s . " In th is e x t r a c t

W r i g h t discusses t h e ' r eg imen t ' .

"Their [the English] regiments were ef­fectively tribal entities with their own subcultures, a complete home for officers and men. It was a familial relationship. ... Regimental pride was underscored by the 'colours', banners borne in battle by

Lessons Learnt?

In a recent art ic le in the N Z Herald (Monday O c t o b e r 2,) the re was an interest ing com¬parison of the Brit ish and Amer ican forces fighting in Iraq. Part o f the art icle, by Co le M o r t o n ( independent,) con¬trasted the t w o nations organ¬izational s t ructures. "The British

battalion forever part of him and

him forever part of it.

"Although possessing no perma¬nent site, having neither roof nor walls, no unchanging form, it yet becomes home for those who serve in it. Away from it, each of its members can revert to being a homeless individual, lost, uncer¬tain, without proper identity. Be¬cause of this thing it calls to life in a man, rounded into fullness through shared battle, suffering and death, each soldier will al¬ways feel some sense of brother¬hood for each other man of his

Ensign whose usual reward for this hon¬our was being targeted. There were usu¬ally two flags: one representing the mon­arch, the other the Regiment, and they carried a morale value far in excess of their tactical worth as rallying points.

"Most [commanders] were more capa¬ble, . experienced in the ways of war¬fare, formally trained at Sandhurst or other military colleges, and thoroughly professional in their outlook. Some had extensive field experience.

Army has been based on regimen¬tal tradition, but some disgruntled soldiers say it is being dismantled by a reorganization that has seen famous regiments such as the Black Watch absorbed into oth­ers. Links with areas of the coun¬try where sons followed fathers into service were being broken, said a former Black Watch offi¬cer, along with the sense of be¬longing. "The Americans think,

battalion. Through this this the strong lift the weak to efforts and achievements beyond their own strength and their own conscious wills; and the dependence of the weak gives greater strength and

endurance to the strong.

For every human part of the bat¬talion who is killed, this thing changes something in those who survive and calls to life something

new that never was before."

6 Hau has a p roud history, and

the paragraphs above hint at

why this may be. rs

"The men they led were full time sol¬diers, . highly trained, and for most the regiment was home, reinforcing the es¬prit de corps and interpersonal co¬operation that counted for so much in the field. This is a key point. In New Zealand and elsewhere, indigenous peo¬ples were often fighting for their homes. But so were the regulars."

Perhaps W r i g h t , in t h i s e x t r a c t , p lumbs t h e essence o f t h e bonds t h a t b ind m e n t o g e t h e r in a ba t ta l i on .

C o n s i d e r t h e ' k insh ip ' in 6 Hau and

y o u begin t o unde rs tand w h a t under¬

pins o u r success as a ba t ta l ion g r o u p .

rs

'God, if only we had that system'. But now everything we value is

under attack."

Sound familiar? W h e n you read my banging on abou t having pr ide in o u r un i t and it's ident i ty , t h i nk abou t w h a t t h e off icer 's c o m ­

ments q u o t e d above mean in t h e

c o n t e x t o f m o d e r n day war?

C A P T Russell Skeet

The Regiment is 'home'.

Attention: Professional Development N o t e the fo l lowing page f r o m the N I R D L 4 /06—Defence Library; H Q N Z Defence force.

W e b s i t e s W o r t h W a t c h i n g

A i r W a r C o l l e g e G a t e w a y t o t h e I n t e r n e t T h i s is a " m u s t - s e e " s i t e w i t h l i t e r a l l y h u n d r e d s o f u s e f u l l i n k s a r r a n g e d b y s u b j e c t . A lso i n c l u d e s t h e M i l i t a r y I n d e x t o t h e I n t e r n e t . R e s o u r c e s i n c l u d e t h e f u l l t e x t o f " c l a s s i c " w o r k s s u c h a s t h o s e o f S u n T z u & C l a u s e w i t z , U.S. Lessons L e a r n e d , a n o n l i n e log ic t u t o r , m i l i t a r y " u r b a n l e g e n d s " , m o r s e c o d e , l i n k s t o W a r C o l l e g e s , " h o w t o s " , s u c h as h o w t o w r i t e b o o k r e v i e w s o r g i v e p r e s e n t a t i o n s , l i n k s t o m i l i t a r y b l o g s , a n d m u c h m o r e . h t t p : / / w w w . a u . a f . m i l / a u / a w c / a w c q a t e / a w c g a t e . h t m

G o v e r n m e n t A c c o u n t i n g O f f i c e D o w n l o a d r e p o r t s f r o m t h e U.S. G.A.O. o n a v a r i e t y o f m i l i t a r y t o p i c s . h t t p : / / w w w . a a o . Q Q v /

R A N D D o w n l o a d r e p o r t s f r o m RAND o n a v a r i e t y o f m i l i t a r y t o p i c s . w w w . r a n d . o r g

C o l l i n s C e n t e r f o r S t r a t e g i c L e a d e r s h i p I n c l u d e s t h e C o l l i n s C e n t e r U p d a t e , a q u a r t e r l y n e w s l e t t e r d e t a i l i n g t h e a c t i v i t i e s o f t h e C e n t e r f o r S t r a t e g i c L e a d e r s h i p , U.S. A r m y W a r Co l l ege . h t t p : / / w w w . c a r l i s l e . a r m y . m i l / u s a c s l / i n d e x . a s p

U N B S a i n t J o h n W a r d C h i p m a n L i b r a r y W e b p a g e o f l i n k s t o i n t e r n e t r e s o u r c e s o n m i l i t a r y a n d s t r a t e g i c s t u d i e s . I n c l u d e s A u s t r a l i a n D o D p u b l i c a t i o n s a n d r e p o r t s , a n d t h e C a n a d i a n A r m y E l e c t r o n i c L i b r a r y . h t t p : / / w w w . u n b s i . c a / l i b r a r v / s u b i e c t / m i l l . h t m

S t r a t e g i c S t u d i e s I n s t i t u t e o f t h e U . S . A r m y W a r C o l l e g e T h e S t r a t e g i c S t u d i e s I n s t i t u t e o f t h e US A r m y W a r C o l l e g e p u b l i s h e s s e c u r i t y a n d s t r a t e g i c r e p o r t s a n d p u b l i c a t i o n s w h i c h " s e r v e t o i n f l u e n c e p o l i c y d e b a t e a n d b r i d g e t h e g a p b e t w e e n M i l i t a r y a n d A c a d e m i a . " D o c u m e n t s a r e f r e e t o d o w n l o a d . h t t p : / / w w w . s t r a t e g i c s t u d i e s i n s t i t u t e . a r m y . m i l

O v e r s e a s A r m e d F o r c e s ' W e b s i t e s U.K. M o d Page l i s t i n g w e b l i n k s t o o v e r s e a s a r m e d f o r c e s . G r e a t t o f i n d t h e s e b o o k m a r k e d a l l i n t h e o n e p l a c e . h t t p : / / w w w . a r m y . m o d , u k / p re ssce n t r e / d e f e n c e l i n k s / i n d e x . h t m

O v e r s e a s A r m e d F o r c e s ' W h i t e P a p e r s MERLN's p a g e l i s t i n g w e b l i n k s t o w h i t e p a p e r s o f o v e r s e a s a r m e d f o r c e s , a r r a n g e d a l p h a b e t i c a l l y b y c o u n t r y h t t p : / / m e r l n . n d u . e d u / w h i t e p a p e r s . h t m l

S e n i o r O f f i c e r P r o f e s s i o n a l D i g e s t T h i s A u s t r a l i a n p u b l i c a t i o n p r e s e n t s t h o u g h t f u l a b s t r a c t s o f m i l i t a r y a r t i c l e s . I f y o u n e e d t o see t h e f u l l t e x t , p l ease c o n t a c t y o u r loca l B a s e / C a m p L i b r a r y . h t t p : / / w w w . d e f e n c e . Q o v . a u / A R M Y / L W S C / s o p d . h t m

H o w t o E v a l u a t e W e b s i t e s , f r o m J o h n H o p k i n s U n i v e r s i t y h t t p : / / w w w . l i b r a r y . j h u . e d u / r e s e a r c h h e l p / q e n e r a l / e v a l u a t i n g /

Reading for the Professional Soldier The following entries are taken from the New Items Received Defence Library (NIRDL) list 4/06 for August 2006. They are a selection of the new books received at the Defence Library that are perhaps relevant to members of 6 Hau. rs

320.9 I823 POL

Pol i t ica l p a r t i e s in t h e Pac i f ic Is lands / edi ted by Roland Rich ; w i t h Luke Hambly and Michael G

Morgan—Canber ra , A.C.T. : Pandanus Books, c2006.

337 . I96 PAC

Pac i f ic F u t u r e s /ed i ted by Michael Powles—Canber ra ;: Pandanus Books, 2006.

F355.0082 R O G

G e n d e r in tegra t ion in t h e N e w Z e a l a n d In fant ry . — Thes is (MMAS) - US A r m y Command and Gen¬

eral Col lege, 2 0 0 I .

355 .03 I0954 JAP

N a t u r a l A l l i e s ? : reg iona l s e c u r i t y in A s i a a n d p r o s p e c t s for I n d o - A m e r i c a n s t r a t e g i c c o o p ­e r a t i o n . - A r m y W a r Col lege (US), Strategic Studies Insti tute. Carl isle, PA : Strategic Studies Insti tute,

US A r m y W a r Col lege, 2005.

355 .03 I0994 H U B

A u s t r a l i a n and U S m i l i t a r y c o o p e r a t i o n : f ighting c o m m o n e n e m i e s — A l d e r s h o t " : Ashgate,

2005.

F355.I23 W I L

Wi l l iams, Evan George

T h e i m p o r t a n c e of m o r a l e in t h e m o d e r n N e w Z e a l a n d a rmy—Thes i s (MMAS) - US A r m y Com¬

mand and General Staff Col lege.

355.6 M A N

Manag ing d e f e n c e in a d e m o c r a c y / edi ted by Laura R Cleary & T e r r i McConv i l l e .—London :

Routledge, 2006.

940.5393 H Y D

Hyde, Ewan

K i a K a h a : f o r e v e r s t r o n g : N e w Z e a l a n d ' s i n v o l v e m e n t in W o r l d W a r II / [Ewan Hyde] - We l¬

l ington : Nat ional Library of N e w Zealand, I995.

940.5423 C A M

Cameron , Co l in

B r e a k o u t : M i n q u a r Q a i m , N o r t h A f r i c a , 1942—Chr is tchurch : W i l s o n Scott Pub., c2006

F993.022 T A Y

Taylor , Richard J.

B r i t i s h logist ics in t h e N e w Z e a l a n d W a r s 1845—66—Thes is (Ph.D) - Massey Universi ty, Palm-

ers ton N o r t h , 2004.

Connecteo

HQ NEW Z E A L A N D D E F E N C E F O R C E L I B R A R Y

C U R R E N T D E F E N C E A R T I C L E S

Nos. 3331 -3339 20 September 2006

Requests for articles: Copies of these articles are available through The Defence Library at HQ Wellington. To order articles please either phone 7843, fax 7867. annotate this list and return it, send a minute to the library, e-mail Joan Keate, or come in person. If you are on a Base/Camp, please request CDAs through your Base/Camp Librarian.

#3331 Gallipoli revisited, by Dr Christopher Pugsley. In: Paper presented by Dr. Chris Pugsley at the New Zealand Society of Genealogists Conference, Hamilton, 2006. Keywords: New Zealand in World W a r I ; A N Z A C Corps ; A N Z A C Cove ; A N Z A C Day Commemorations ; Leadership ; Australian Expeditionary Force ; War casualties

The author is a former New Zealand Infantry officer now on the staff at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and an authority on New Zealanders at war. He has visited Gallipoli a number of times particularly over the past five years.

# 3332 Defining military experiments, by D Robert Worley. Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) January 1999 IDA Document D-2412 Log No: H 99¬002918, Keywords: Joint experimentation ; Military Experimentation and Assessment; Wargaming ; Simulation and Assessment

The U.S. Department of Defense embarked on a mission to experiment with new warfighting concepts and capabilities. The word experiment means many things to many people. Military and joint experimentation are important topics discussed at the highest levels of government, yet it is not at all clear that the participants in the discussion are talking about the same things. Definitions for both Military experimentation and Joint experimentation are offered.

# 3333 Naval quarantine : impervious to epidemics of virulent diseases, by Thomas Luke. In: Proceedings - U.S. Naval Institute, 132(7) : 48-53, July 2006. Keywords: Epidemics ; Prevention of Avian Influenza ; Spanish Flu Pandemic 1918-1919

'The worst place to have an epidemic, like a fire, is in close quarters far from help, such as a ship on the high seas During an epidemic, democracy can be a very dangerous form of Government: the need is for a strong Central authority with a grasp of basic Epidemiology"- Alfred W. Crosby in his book titled Epidemic and Peace, 1918. Department of Defense epidemic resnonse clans are beine develoned

#3334 The mismeasure of women : differences between the sexes. In: The economist, 380(8489) : 70-72, 5 August 2006-Keywords: Cognition ; Psychology of men ; Psychology of women

Men and women think differently. But not that differently. The 1970s idea was that differences in behaviour were solely the result of upbringing. That boys and girls are programmed by evolution to behave differently is now widely accepted. New scanning techniques have enable researchers to examine the brain's interior while it is working showing that, at one level, male and female brains operate differently.

#3335 Information miscues lead to bad targeting decisions, by Grace Jean. In: National defense, 91(633) August 2006 : 24-25 Keywords: Military communications ; Information warfare ; Intelligence

The military service's inability to access and share data has led to some tactical mistakes on the battlefield that could have been prevented, an intelligence official who is deputy director for the CIA's national clandestine service for community human intelligence, told a recent industry conference. Raytheon's Distributed Common Ground Systems, or D C G S , part of the U.S. Air Force's global network weapon system, is laying the foundation for all the armed forces to develop systems that will allow them to share information, derived from all sources, with one another.

#3336 Generational evolution in the Australian army, by E r i n Maulday. In: Australian army journal, 3(2) : 201-215, Winter 2006 Keywords: Mentoring ; Command of troops ; Generational differences ; Generation Y

The article examines generational differences within the Australian army, arguing that Generation Y has experienced the army's highest operational tempo and will soon be able to employ the lessons of that experience in command positions. Advice is provided to middle and senior level officers currently leading and mentoring this generation.

#3337 Clausewitz and World War I V , by Robert H . Scales. I n : Armed forces journal, 143(12) : 16-24, 48, July 2006 Keywords: Future warfare ; Strategy ; Carl von Clausewitz

It is astonishing that a single soldier's writings — a model of both clear Kantian logic but also convoluted Kantian prose — should remain so influential for so long, and countless writings on the way of war continue to be commentaries on Clausewitz. The 19th century Prussian writer is regarded as a prophet whose views on the character and nature of war have held up best over the past two centuries.

#3338 Sensors and sensibility : navies factor mammals into sonar use, by Katy Glassborow. I n : Jane's navy international, 111(7) : 28-32, September 2006 Keywords: Sonar-Environmental aspects ; Marine mammals ; Military research ; Ocean sounds

As the world's oceans become more cluttered with anthropogenic sound, naval active sonars remain the usual suspect behind mass marine mammal strandings. Many navies are taking measures to understand and mitigate this risk. Navies include the US Navy, The Royal Navy , and the French, Royal Australian, Royal Norwegian, and the Royal Netherlands navies.

#3339 Jerry Mateparae : a new Zealand warrior chief, by Z irk van der Ber. In: New Zealand management, 53(7) : 40-43, August 2006. Keywords: New Zealand Defence Force; Leadership ; Decision making ; Change management ; L T G E N Mateparae

In this interview the Chief of Defence elaborates on such things as his role in implementing the 2006 Statement of Intent, recruitment and retention, the lonp term view and i u i m p i m m m d M i M M v

PAGE 18 K IA K A H A ISSN: 1 1 77 5335

Honorary Colonel completes "Ironman" See other story elsewhere in this issue

In early O c t o b e r the Rotorua

Review announced tha t the

H o n Co l Chr is McGui re was

off t o Hawai i t o compete in the

I ronman compet i t i on w i t h the

headline " R u n n i n g j u d g e in t h e s w i m for H a w a i i . " This

compet i t i on involves a 3.8km

swim, 180km cycle and a full

42km marathon, so i t is no l i t­

t le task. It was expected tha t

t he re w o u l d be approx imate ly

1 8 0 0 c o m p e t i t o r s . C o l

McGuire 's preparat ion was has

been mon i t o red by Jon Ack land

of the Performance Lab t o en-

sure he is p roper ly prepared

and in the peak of physical

cond i t ion fo r the event. Co l

McGui re commented t o the

Rotorua Review, tha t the

physical exhaust ion aspect of|

the t ra in ing regime was no

p rob lem, ra ther i t was f inding

the t ime tha t p roved t o be the

g r e a t e s t d i f f i c u l t y . C o l

McGui re is a Judge in Rotorua.

The H o n o r a r y Co lone l was placed 1 1th o u t o f 49 in his

age g roup w i t h a commend¬

able t ime of 11 hours 55 min­

utes and 5 seconds

P h o t o g r a p h c o u r t e s y of t h e

R o t o r u a R e v i e w

WMR assist with T T T training in Waiouru

14 - 22 of November saw S S G T Rose, LCPLS Gibbons and Pepper, T P R S Mack in tosh and Str inger, of W M R , wi th 2X cu t -down V 8 Landrovers , assist ing T T T in Wa iou ru wi th the f inal f ield phase of their c rew c o m m a n d e r s course on N Z L A V .

Tasks accompl ished were screening N Z L A V movements , mounted and d ismounted OP 's and ambushes , dis­mounted CTR 's and moun ted route recce's. The f ield phase of the new Javel in anti a rmour w e a p o n w a s under­w a y at the s a m e t ime, so at var ious s tages of the exerc ise W M R were act ing as e n e m y party or f r iendly forces to each course as they were basical ly up against each other, so being f lexible w a s the order of the day.

At t h e e n d o f t h e c o u r s e a n e v e n i n g s go o n t h e J a v e l i n s i m u l a t o r i n P y e s r a n g e w a s both highly i n t e r e s t i n g a n d c o m p e t i t i \ / a

Al l in al l , an excel lent t ra in ing opportuni ty to assist the RF on their latest w e a p o n s sys tems and tact ics in the new A r m y env i ronment . CP

Breakout—an heroic action. " B R E A K O U T M i n q a r Q a i m — N o r t h A f H c a , 1 9 4 2 / ' By Co l i n

C a m e r o n . ISBN 0 - 9 5 8 2 6 3 i - 3 - 2 . A v a i l ¬

a b l e a t D y m o c k s f o r $49.99.

T h e p u b l i s h e r s t a t e s :

" B r e a k o u t i s t h e f i r s t c o m p r e h e n s i v e

a n a l y s i s o f t h i s r e m a r k a b l e a n d co rv

t r o v e r s i a l i n c i d e n t d r a w i n g o n a

w e a l t h o f o f t e n c o n t r a d i c t o r y o f f i c i i

r epo r t s as we l l as personal recollec¬t ions o f those w h o t o o k part . W h e r e

t h e N e w Z e a l a n d e r s g u i l t y o f w a r d cr imes in t he breakout? This b o o k of fers def in i t ive answers and pro¬vides readers w i t h a ful l apprec ia t ion o f w h a t actual ly t o o k place leading

u p t o a n d d i c i n g t h e b a t t l e o f M i n q a r

Q a i m / ' P u b l i s h e d by W i l l s o n Scot t

2 0 0 6 . r s

M i n q a r Q a i r r North Africa, 1942

Officers and NCO's T.E.W.T. at Gate Pa

As a part of the Command ing Off icer 's wananga held over the per iod 12 / 13 August, off icers and N C O ' s of the Battal ion G r o u p assembled at the site of Gate Pa on Cameron Road in Tauranga t o conduct a T E W T . Conduc ted by the Ad ju tant , C A P T John O'Reil ly, and suppor ted by C A P T Vince Copeland, the gathering wres t led w i t h a mi l i tary p rob lem concerning an enemy force seeking t o im¬pose delay on a the fr iendly force. The significance of the p rob lem was no t lost on the g roup as the Gate Pa site was the scene of a significant defeat of Imperial soldiers on 28 Apr i l 1864 as they at¬tempted t o oust a Nat ive fo rce f r o m the for t i f ied site. A t the opening and closing of the training a

karakia was of fered by W O i Dave Galvin, recognizing the special significance of the site t o Maor i . rs

The Ad ju tan t delivers a br ief t o some assembled part icipants.

The C O (3rd L) watches. As does the 2IC (L) later, Maj Paterson.

T h e C o l o u r is " M a r c h e d o f f

T h e C o l o u r is received and sheathed

PAGE 21 KIA K A H A ISSN: i i 77 5335

Combat Kit

Next time you are out on in the field on an exercise complaining about your kit, spare a thought for the combatants in Iraq. In the NZ Herald on Monday October 2, there was an article contrasting the kit of the British and American soldiers. An ex¬tract of the article follows.

" H e l m e t . The M6 w o r n by the Bri t ish t r o o p s weighs 1.4 kg, so is marginally l ighter than the U.S. vers ion . But t he 1.6kg Modu lar Integrated Commun i ca ­t ions he lmet is newer . Both Bri t ish and Amer i can soldiers w e a r an earpiece and

m ic rophone .

" B o d y A r m o u r . The Min is t ry o f De ­fence says Bri t ish supply p rob lems have n o w been solved. The US spent $460 mi l l ion o n it's m o r e advanced b o r o n carbide ceramic system, w h i c h weighs

i 6kg. Both suits can stop 9 m m bullets

at 4 0 0 m .

" L o a d - c a r r y i n g E q u i p m e n t . Bri t ish belt, yoke and pouches have been used since 1998, bu t are t r i ed and t rus ted . US k i t is on ly f ive years o ld , bu t Marines

say it falls apart in batt le, so a n e w ver¬

sion is being researched.

"Ri f le . A f t e r a disastrous star t and cost ly ref i t , t he Bri t ish SA80A2 is seen as among the best, t hough stor ies per¬sist o f it failing in t he heat. The US M4 is a rel iable compac t vers ion o f t he M i 6 .

" A c c e s s o r i e s . O n e in f o u r Br i t ish infantry soldiers has under-s lung gre¬nade launcher f i t ted t o t he r i f le barre l as rep lacement f o r cumbersome mor¬tars. T rus ted US M6 bayonet is also a hand weapon , field knife and saw.

" F a t i g u e s . Bri t ish Soldier 2000 is t rad i ­t iona l comba t gear. Expensive n e w loose US un i fo rm features "visual w h i t e no ise" o f shapeless pixel lat ions tha t blends w i t h deser t o r ci ty, and flag tha t

can be seen w i t h infrared lights.

" B o o t s . Br i tain bough t thousands o f n e w pairs f r o m Spain after prev ious issue dis integrated in t he heat in 2003. Tougher rubber soles can wi ths tand up t o 300C. US has replaced all black leather f o o t w e a r in t he f ron t l i ne mili¬tary w i t h light tan suede tha t requi res

no spi t-and-pol ish.

" T r u c k . The Bri t ish Land Rover was n o t designed f o r t he desert . It is vulner¬able t o roadside bombs and ambushes, bu t is s lowly being replaced. Some c rews bo l t o n the i r o w n improv ised

a rmour . A l l o f wh i ch also applies t o t he

US M998 Humvee.

" P a y . A Bri t ish C o r p o r a l w i t h six years' service, operat ing in a w a r zone, w i l l be paid $67,293. A US specialist o f equal rank and service, also in batt le, can receive $70,5 i 0 including bonuses f o r comba t and family separat ion. But,

unl ike his ally, he wi l l pay no tax . "

Harding Cup Results don't go our way The Hard ing C u p was c o m p e t e d f o r

by t h e f o u r TF Bn Gps. They w e r e :

6 ( H A U ) Bn G p ; 3 A u c k N t h Bn G p ; 5

W W C T Bn Gp and 7 W n H B N m G p .

The fo l l ow ing t roph ies w e r e awarded

t o the w inn ing teams:

Hard ing C u p G o l f T r o p h y

(Hiko Memorial Trophy)

3 A u c k N t h B n G p

a. G o l f T e a m - Cpl G o r m a n ,

O C d t King, Pte Challans, and M r K

Purukamu.

b. N e t b a l l T e a m - K i r i Galvin, N i kk i W a w a t a i , O c d t Lee, Cp l Puru ­kamu, LCpl Falwasser, LCpl Gibbins, Mar ia Pat terson, C o u r t n e y Marama, Sharne Marama, Gabby Marama,

Sharie Ihei K i r ipa, Sgt T e Kani , and

B r o n w y n Rir inui .

Coach - W O i G. D ick .

Hard ing C u p Netba l l T r o p h y

5 W W C T B n G p

H a r d i n g C u p

5 W W C T B n G p

2 LFG C o m d ' s T r o p h y

( A w a r d e d t o the t eam w h o w ins /does

best in all spor ts )

5 W W C T B n G p

The fo l l ow ing personnel represen ted

6 (Hau) Bn G p :

c. R u g b y T e a m - Mi ta Galv in, LCp l M e y e r s , LCp l Ma ih i , Pte Smallman, Dave C o o k , Dylan Ta i -ka to , Sgt Haumaha, W i l l i s Maihi , Pte Kelly, LCpl Samuels, Cap t Cope land , RSM W O i D Mil ls, SSgt Roose, LCpl McKee , M r Tuta ia , M r Ne i l i o , Lt W a u g h , SSgt Haumaha, LCpl W a r r e n , Pte G u r a u , Pte Assmus, SSgt Houkamau , Pte Mar t i n , M r W i -

r o r i , T p r A n d e r s o n and LCpl Jones.

Overa l l i t was a ve ry g o o d w e e k e n d and hosted in t h e norma l Haurak i manner . Cond i t i ons on Saturday w e r e ve ry w e t but some hard, physical and uncompromis ing rugby was played. Netba l l was played in t h e same cond i t ions and p roduced some ve ry t igh t games. G o l f was f o r t h e ducks, bu t all players w e n t o u t t h e r e and gave t he i r best in the cond i t ions .

Ove ra l l , i t was classic infantry

w e a t h e r t ha t levelled things f o r all

spor ts and all t he games w e r e close.

N o t e tha t as par t o f t h e prepara¬t i o n f o r t he event, 6 Hau personnel had pract ice runs on 26 A u g at a venue in Kat ikat i and at t he Ranga-taua Spor ts and Cu l tu ra l C lub in Tauranga.

RSM W O i Dave Mil ls. Coaches M r J Cope land and SSgt

Ha r r i son . Manager - Cp l Davy.

THE ROYAL REGIMENT OF FUSILIERS (5Ltu 6 t h . 7 t h . 2 0 t h )

2006 has been an operat ional ly demanding year fo r The Fusiliers.

The First Fusiliers re tu rned f r o m Iraq in May 2006 after a most successful and professionally reward ing t o u r in Basra in the A r m o u r e d Infantry Role. Dur ing that t o u r command changed f r o m Lt Co l Simon Mar r t o Lt Co l Paul Nanson, the Colonel - in-Chief His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent visited the Bat­ta l ion in February and Brig W i l d e visited in Ap r i l . In September, back in the i r Barracks in Celle, Germany they w e r e able t o host some 200 members of the Regimental Associat ion f o r the annual Regimental Gather ing. A lso at tha t Gather ing w e w e r e all highly impressed by the per formance of o u r newly t i t led

Band of The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers wh ich is o u r T A Band based in Newcast le-upon-Tyne.

O u r 2 n d Battalion has been in the th ick of the act ion in bo th Afghanistan and in Iraq. A l though posted f r o m Ireland t o Cyprus w i t h the i r families at the end of 2005 they have had l i t t le oppor tun i t y t o enjoy the C y p r i o t sun, sea and sangria. i 50 members of the Battalion under command of Maj Swift w e r e sent at shor t not ice t o Afghanistan, a consequence of the Battalion being the Theat re Reserve Battal ion. T w o o the r companies w i t h Battalion Headquarters (effectively the balance of the Battal ion) w e r e sent t o Basra immediately fo l lowing a six w e e k dep loyment on exercise t o Jordan wh ich has meant tha t these soldiers, when they re tu rned in December , had been separated f r o m the i r families f o r a lmost 5 months on un¬scheduled operat ions that had never featured in the operat ional t o u r p lot . A Company's " i 07 Days under A t t a c k " f ighting the Taliban whi le defending the Gove rnmen t ou tpos t in N o w Zad in Helmand Province go t justifiable praise in the U K media. Unt i l the end of tha t deployment , the Fusiliers' actions had gone largely un repor ted (ironical ly the consequence of having successfully avoided any fatalities). It was the re ­fo re most satisfying t o read in the nation's Sun tablo id newspaper appropr ia te headline t rea tment : "Fusil iers w i t hs tood i 40 attacks and kil led m o r e than 200 of the i r fanatical enemy. The i r epic feat is the longest defence in mode rn h is tory and beats all records dating back t o W W I I . Britain's mos t isolated out¬post was quickly dubbed "Apolcalypse N o w Z a d " by o u r boys. etc etc . " Many of these same soldiers wi l l be going t o the Falkland Islands f o r a 4 -mon th t o u r of duty in Ap r i l 2007 after a t o u r interval o f only 4! /2

months.

The Regiment's new T A Battal ion, o u r 5 t h Battal ion, held its inaugural parades th rough Newcast le and, in f r o n t of its H o n o r a r y Co lone l , The Duke of No r thumber land , on the grounds of his magnificent Castle in A l nw i ck in September. (A lnwick Castle prov ided the backdrop f o r the flying b roomst i ck sequences in the Ha r r y Pot ter f i lms). Looking t o 2007, the i s t Battalion w i t h its W a r r i o r vehicles, has t o change barracks moving a mere 30 miles w i th in Germany as part of an overal l redep loyment of Brit ish Infantry. They move f r o m Celle t o Fallingbostel and w i th in weeks of tha t move they then deploy t o Suffield in Canada f o r the i r combined arms t ra in ing in ant ic ipat ion of the i r next t o u r of duty t o Iraq. The 2 n d Battalion hopes t o see ra ther m o r e of Cyprus in 2007 but wi l l be prov id ing the Falkland Islands' Garr ison T r o o p s f o r 8 months f r o m Ap r i l t o November . In May, on A lbuhera Day, Brig T r e v o r M in te r takes over the Colonelcy of the Regiment f r o m Brig Roy W i l d e w h o wi l l have held tha t appo in tment fo r 6 years. Certa in ly here at R H Q in H e r Majesty's T o w e r of London, w h e r e w e w e r e pleased t o see Maj W B Pond RCR in June, i t is gratifying t o witness the benefits of the alliance between o u r t w o Regiments being so wel l i l lustrated on operat ions in Afghanistan. That said, w e look f o rwa rd t o the operat ional demands easing up a touch in the next few months. Y o u r ed i to r is on the mailing list f o r o u r Fusilier News, wh ich is a news sheet sent ou t by email f r o m R H Q t o keep the Regiment up t o date w i t h events - especially, recently, the operat ional incidents involving Fusiliers. It is hoped that those extracts i l lustrat ing o u r recent combat exper ience are

being shared by those interested w i th in the Hauraki Battalion G roup .

FUSILIERS IN AFGHANISTAN M e m b e r s o f A C o m p a n y 2 n d Bat ta l ion T h e Royal Reg imen t o f Fusi l iers have n o w f o r o v e r i 4 w e e k s been l iv ing

in t r e n c h e s and m u d huts in an iso la ted o u t p o s t , s o m e 5h rs d r i ve f r o m any o t h e r N A T O t r o o p s in N a w Z a d .

T h e y o c c u p i e d th is o u t p o s t in ear ly July w h e n t h e y w e r e u n d e r c o m m a n d o f 3 P A R A . T h e PARAs may have

c o m e h o m e b u t T h e Fusi l iers w i l l r ema in f o r a f e w m o r e w e e k s . T h e C o m p a n y C o m m a n d e r is M a j o r Jon

Swi f t .

T h e Bat ta l ion 's C o m m a n d i n g O f f i c e r L i eu tenan t C o l o n e l Pe te r M e r r i m a n says " T h e r e is n o d o u b t t h a t A C o m p a n y has

ma in ta ined t h e f ines t t r a d i t i o n s o f t h e Reg imen t against a d e t e r m i n e d foe . I f o r o n e am f ie rce ly p r o u d o f t h e i r ach ieve­

men ts . W e h o p e t h a t g o o d f o r t u n e w i l l c a r r y t h e m t h r o u g h t o t h e end o f t h e t o u r w i t h n o g r e a t e r in jur ies t han t h o s e sus­

ta ined a l ready by o u r t h r e e Fusi l iers . "

Cap ta in Lee Phil l ips f r o m H a i l s w o r t h , M a n c h e s t e r was t h e Bat ta l ion 's Reg imenta l Sergeant M a j o r un t i l ge t t i ng c o m m i s s i o n e d

and is n o w t h e Bat ta l ion C a r e e r Managemen t O f f i ce r , a c o m p a r a t i v e l y n e w a p p o i n t m e n t . H e is c la iming t o be t h e f i r s t C a ­

r e e r Managemen t O f f i c e r t o c o n d u c t a r e t e n t i o n i n t e r v i e w u n d e r f i re . V is i t i ng N a w Z a d recen t l y he was speak ing t o a

y o u n g Fusi l ier in t h e f o r w a r d t r e n c h w h e n i t came u n d e r f i re . T h e i n t e r v i e w r e s u m e d s o m e m inu tes la ter , by w h i c h t i m e

Lee had t w i c e r e l o a d e d his r i f le and was o n t o his t h i r d magazine!

Fusiliers have fired over 500 rounds of 81 mm H E from this position in 14 weeks.

T h e res t o f 2RRF are in I raq. H e r e life is n o t so d rama t i c as e x p e r i e n c e d by A C o m p a n y b u t t h e level o f a t tacks rema in

signi f icant. M a j o r G a r e t h Boyd c o m m a n d s Fire S u p p o r t C o m p a n y and M a j o r A n d r e w Higgs, c o m m a n d s C C o m p a n y each

w i t h t h e i r o w n areas o f respons ib i l i t y . W i t h i n t h e c i t y o f Basra t h e r e is a Fusi l ier p l a t o o n c o m m a n d e d by Cap ta in A n d r e w

Swann w o r k i n g w i t h i L I , w h i c h has been engaged r o u t i n e l y d u r i n g pa t ro l s .

M a j o r J im T a y l o r has made a huge impac t in rev i ta l is ing t h e c o m m a n d and c o n t r o l c e n t r e used by t h e Iraqi Pol ice and M i l i ­

t a r y in Basra. I t is n o w c o n s i d e r e d t o be o n e o f t h e p r i m e successes in t h e t r a n s i t i o n t o Prov inc ia l I raqi C o n t r o l . Jim neve r

c o n s i d e r e d t h a t he w o u l d use his M B A at all a f te r Staff Co l l ege , le t a lone have t o lead a Change M anagem en t Process in an

iso la ted o u t p o s t i n t e r m i t t e n t l y u n d e r a t t ack b u t he seemed t o have b lended m i l i t a r y and civi l ian skil ls t o g rea t ef fect .

T h e Fusi l iers w h o s e fami l ies a re based in C y p r u s are in I raq and Afghan is tan because o f t h e i r T h e a t r e Reserve Bat ta l ion

ro l e . T h e y all h o p e t o be back in C y p r u s in ear ly D e c e m b e r .

Jolyan Willans— Regimental Secretary

Annual Field Exercise 2007 A F E is n o t fa r a w a y and all r a n k s o u g h t t o be p r e p a r i n g for t h e i r a t t e n d a n c e . A F E is r e ­g a r d i n g as t h e c u l m i n a t i o n of t h e B a t t a l i o n G r o u p t ra in ing y e a r a n d r e p r e s e n t s an e x c e l ­l en t o p p o r t u n i t y for t h e B n G p to c o m e t o g e t h e r as a uni t and e x p e r i e n c e s o m e f i rst r a t e t r a i n i n g . T h i s y e a r ' s A F E wil l be w e l l r e s o u r c e d and t h e t r a i n i n g p r o v i d e d wi l l be v a r i e d a n d e x c i t i n g . It is i m p o r t a n t t h a t s o l d i e r s m a k e p r o p e r p r e p a r a t i o n for t h e i r a t t e n d a n c e : t h a t is , w a r n o u t e m p l o y e r s n o w a n d s e e k l eave to a t t e n d , s p r u c e up t h e phys ica l t r a i n i n g

p r o g r a m m e , w a r n o u t t h e fami ly a n d s t a r t th ink ing a b o u t a n y kit r e q u i r e m e n t s .

A F E 2007

C o m p o n e n t s

The fol lowing are likely t o be involved in AFE 2007:

Inf, CSST, Gunners, Sappers, Sigs, FST, W M R , SI TF

Australian contingent

RIT4

Rata 2 PDT

L e s s o n s f rom last year. N K 06

Command: O P O R D earlier

Scenario f low during the ex was not happening

Log to focus on the log requirements.

Continue the adv pty.

Land clearance was good.

Admin: proc for TF joining/leaving the t rg area-we wil l estab an Admin Centre in Tau-

ranga t o control the tfc t o the Ex. Minimal civy veh.

Log: Put all loggies together.

CP: Lack of experience in the CP- need training. i RNZIR to sponsor training. Hau wil l

provide/fill some positions

Veh: N o t sufficient t o cater fo r the ex and lack of central control

Highlights

Main effort fo r the training year

Tactical setting throughout finishing wi th a SAA pr ior t o the BBQ and departure.

One day wi th the LAV.

One day wi th the Helo

One day live firing.

RF wil l provide 200 pers t o support the Ex.

O u r commitment is 75-80 pers

Jnr leadership is the emphasis.

O t h e r

2 LFG activity so they wil l w r i te the O P O R D and A D M I N O R D .

Wi l l provide mentors for the senior pers.

LAV there for the week providing fam, fire power.

Hope to have the helo there for the week.

Bde H Q Bde Col Steve Franklin, Lt Col Bede Fahey Tactical, Ex Con Lt Col Steve

Wat ts

TF log pers Al l t o the CSST for real log spt and log t rg.

Inf Tactical scenario work ing up t o a deliberate wdr.

Gunners O w n build up t rg .

Sappers Prep of Gun pits and CP.

Batsim

O w n trg, mobil i ty and counter mobil i ty including a bridge reserve dems.

Boating if possible.

Sigs Coms f rom Bde to Bn to Coy. 2LFG wil l provide something even if it is the

Motoro la wi th the repeaters

W M R Recon dets mob and dismounted wil l be used as a screen and to recon the

positions for the Pl raids and wdr.

Pl Ambush: Section level so all participate

Live firing

Pl Raid. Platoon fighting patrol w i th the LAV, TESS,

A d m i n

March in: Mob packs orders and all issues at home locs.

Land rovers: Bring our own spares. 2 Eng wil l do the recovery.

Transport: do we need buses?

Coms: demand for the radios for our units esp W M R - who will be more remote

The Colour party in conversation wi th the CA. (L t o R): 2LT A Dods, LT C Furminger, un­

known, and C A MGEN Lou Gardiner at the "Year of the Veteran" dinner in Rotorua.

New Zealand Defence Force Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2006 T h e N Z D F ' s c o m m i t m e n t t o a b road range o f activi t ies con t inued dur ing t he r e p o r t i n g pe r i od . Act iv i t ies have inc luded opera t iona l missions and defence d ip lomacy tasks overseas, and general s u p p o r t p rov ided t o local c o m ­muni t ies and t o g o v e r n m e n t at home. Examples of t he w o r k o f N Z D F personnel at h o m e are rel ief ef for ts af ter t he s n o w s to rms in Can te rbu ry , search and rescue missions, and suppo r t t o g o v e r n m e n t depar tments and agen­cies, such as t h e Depa r tmen ts o f Conserva t ion and Cus toms , t he Min is t ry o f Fisheries, and t h e N e w Zealand Police. Opera t i ona l missions have inc luded those tha t con t inued t h r o u g h o u r con t r i bu t i on t o t h e European U n ­i o n - l e d Force (EUFOR) in t h e Balkans, t he In ternat ional Stabil isation Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, t h e M u l t i - N a t i o n a l Force on t he Sinai Peninsular and the Un i ted Nat ions . O u r ro le in t he So lomon Islands w i t h t he Aus t ra l i an - led Regional Assistance Mission So lomon Islands (RAMSI) has enhanced o u r standing in t h e South Pacific, as has o u r m o s t recen t dep loymen t t o T i m o r - L e s t e . Ma jo r p ro jec ts advanced dur ing t h e year include new ships f o r t he Navy (Pro jec t P r o t e c t o r ) , new comba t suppo r t equ ipment and weapons f o r t he A r m y , and rep lacement he l icopters and t h e upgraded t r a n s p o r t and mar i t ime pat ro l a i rcraf t f o r t he A i r Force. T h e Defence Funding Package, t oge the r w i t h t h e Defence Sustainabil i ty Ini t iat ive, wh ich commenced dur ing FY 2005/06, has led t o considerable progress in addressing mi l i ta ry capabil i ty issues dur ing a pe r i od w h e n the ongo ing opera­t ional t e m p o has been demanding. In part icular , t he rebui ld ing of N Z D F personnel numbers has m e t w i t h early success. Efforts t o increase organisat ional capabil i ty are also progressing, and generat ing imp rovemen ts in t he N Z D F ' s strategic management . Fur ther changes wi l l be ou t l i ned in a suite o f strategic planning documents t ha t w i l l be released over t he nex t i 2 mon ths . As w e l ook back on ano the r challenging and demanding year, and c o n ­temp la te t he oppor tun i t i es ahead, w e can all take pr ide in t he con t r i bu t i on t h e men and w o m e n o f t he N Z D F have made t o communi t ies at h o m e and abroad. T h e con t r i bu t i on o u r small, bu t highly skil led Defence Force makes, is highly valued w h e r e v e r its personnel serve.

"Year of the Veteran" Dinner, Rotorua, 9 September, 2006. An article by Honorary Colonel Chris McGuire

The Year of the Veteran D inner was held on 9 September in Rotorua at the Grand Tiara Ho te l . It was heartening indeed t o see h o w wel l suppor ted it was w i t h some 300 guests including ou r local MP and the

Mayor.

The Guest of H o n o u r Major General Lou Gard iner and his wi fe w e r e accorded the honour of the t rad i ­t ional Te A r a w a W e r o and Powhi r i . For me it was a reminder of a number of things: The Mana that Te A r a w a accords its veterans by the manner of we lcome t o the present Chief o f A r m y ; The rich t rad i t ion that Te A r a w a has in the realm of Tumatauenga; The reverence and respect it has f o r those veterans of B

C o y Maor i Battal ion, n o w most ly faded away.

The C o l o u r Party paraded the co lours w i t h haunting bagpipe accompaniment. They did the Regiment

p roud w i t h the i r bearing and dr i l l .

A f t e r an excel lent meal and toasts, in part icular t o o u r beloved veterans, General Gard iner gave an excel­lent speech on the state of the w o r l d , in part icular o u r part o f it, in the con tex t of o u r present mi l i tary

commi tments and possible occasions f o r o u r fu ture involvement. Very focussed and thought provok ing.

A n d then the Mi l i tary band played on . The years mel ted away and many an octogenarian veteran and his lady par tner cut a dash on the dance f l oo r that gave lie t o chronological age. Being marginally younger and being unable t o stand the pace, I and my good lady wi fe re t i red leaving the o u r beloved veterans t o rage

on t i l l the early hours. G o o d on them.

Sincere thanks must go t o the Rotorua RSA, Tony H o r t o n the president, Roly the Secretary manager and

the i r team, along w i t h the assistance of Jessie Gunn f r o m Veterans Affairs f o r organising such a memora¬

ble evening.

"I was prCvileged/ tobe at the Year of the/Veterans' QaXl vnRoto-rua and can confirm that the/Colour Party did theRegiment

proud/. One former officer of the Regiment admiitted tohav/ung a tear in the eye when theColourswere marched inandlater

marched out. Congratulations and well done/."

HONCOL Chris McGuire

Battalion Group supports Year of the Veteran

A b o v e : MP Sandra Goud ie (left o f cent re) and Hauraki A b o v e : Inside the Paeroa W a r Memor ia l Hal l ; dignitaries D is t r i c t Counc i l Mayor John Tregida ( r ight o f cent re) on stage t o the left and N Z D F representat ives t o the f lank the Year o f the Veteran plaque tha t c o m m e m o r a t e s r ight ( f l oo r level). N Z RSA Vice President addresses the the 2006 Year o f the Ve te ran . T o r ight o f Mayor Tregida g a t h e r i n g f r o m t h e p o d m m . is Captain Skeet, represent ing the unit .

Right: 6 Hau at the W a i h i Beach Y O T V ceremony.

(L t o R) MP Sandra Goud ie , W a i h i Beach RSA President

Ol l ie Boyd, Dame Sylvia Car t r i gh t ( f o r m e r G o v e r n o r

Genera l ) , Cap t RB Skeet. "

The Adjutant asked that 6 Hau be remembered to Dame

Sylvia—we were."

WMR Support YOTV Activities Dur ing the Armis t i ce Day ceremony at Cambr idge on Remembrance Sunday ( i 2 N o v 06) a special plaque f o r the 'Year of the Veteran ' was unveiled by the Mayor of Wa ipa , Alan Livingston, and Vice President of the RSA, Larry Boyle. The Mayor was escor ted by Major Simon Mar r io t t , O C of W M R . Sadly W M R was unable t o be present in the i r usual numbers (provid ing a f i r ing party, cenotaph guard and flag order l ies) as the funding allocated f o r this activi ty had been re-d i rected elsewhere. There is be t te r news off the parade g round . O n behalf o f the W M R Associat ion, Major Ma r r i o t t applied t o Vet¬erans' Affairs last mon th f o r a grant f r o m the Year of the Veteran C o m m u n i t y Grants Fund f o r the cost of nine memor ia l plaques ($4,752.23). It is intended that these plaques wi l l be dedicated t o the m e m o r y of f o r m e r members of the W M R w h o lost the i r lives in confl icts overseas. W i t h the permis¬sion of the relevant author i t ies, they wi l l be placed in churches and public places in t owns and settle¬ments in the heart of the W a i k a t o w h e r e w e still recru i t today. A f t e r consul tat ion w i t h o u r veterans, nine locations have been selected: Hami l ton (2), Cambr idge (2), Te A w a m u t u (2), Raglan ( i ) , Te Kau-whata ( i ) and Waerenga ( i ) . W M R was advised recent ly that the Minister of Veterans' Affairs, the H o n Rick Barker, had approved the award of a grant f o r the full amount . W M R are ex t remely pleased w i t h this, and w o r k is n o w under way t o take this pro jec t f o rwa rd . Major M a r r i o t t says that he was no t able t o at tend the A W Q as W M R had an exercise that weekend (Ex W a i k a t o Hawk) in Maramarua Forest. W M R did however send d o w n t o W a i o u r u the five W M R soldiers w h o have vo lunteered f o r

the Solomons Islands and w h o requi red t o qualify on the range. A l l d id. Supplied by Maj S Marriott

Honorary Colonel Tells Ironman Story

I can tel l you n o w tha t I had a secret ambi t ion o f a t o p 5 finish in my group. A n d why not? I had an almost a flawless build up in spite an awful Rotorua w i n t e r and a also a couple of weeks in Hawaii ahead of the event t o acclimatise, alas, cruel ly s t ruck d o w n by the flu 36 hours before the race. So, " w h a t happens now?" I swal lowed masses o f V i tamin C. O n race day I awoke at 2am. The fever had gone. Just a heavy cold left. Looking on the br ight side, at least I'd start. O c t o b e r 2 i s t 2006, a lmost 7.00 a.m., in the wa te r off the pier at Kona. Jon Ack land the coach had said i t w o u l d be "bigger than Ben H u r ! " It was. Things uncannily calm amongst the i 800 compet i to rs a round me, wai t ing, t reading wa te r at the star t line. But on the shorel ine of Al i i Dr ive, the ex t raord inary hum of thousands and thousands of spectators. Then the start ing cannon. I was pleased t o get in to a rhy thm soon enough, avoiding the ext remes of flailing limbs. But in the t w o

met re swells I swam an eccentr ic zigzag course as I could no t see the markers much of the t ime. A l l the swim t imes w e r e slow. Mine at a lmost i h r 28mins f o r the 3.8kms. Bloody s low! My plan f o r the bike was t o build going o u t t o Kawaihae,(65km mark) and graft all the way up tha t last i i km hill t o the t u r n around at Hawi (90+km mark) . Then really crunch those big gears coming back d o w n . It had w o r k e d really wel l when I had done a t ime tr ia l over this s t retch a week before. N o t this t ime. O n the way d o w n I had t o abandon that plan and back off, feeling weak, achey and stiff. I haplessly watched those I had been joust ing w i t h d raw away and disappear. The volunteers at the aid stations along the way w e r e bri l l iant. A l l encouragement. W a t e r , e lect ro ly te, bananas, energy bars, del ivered in to ou ts t re tched hand w i t h most ly, remarkable precision t o r iders going 30-40kph. Encouragement t o o f r o m the weather . A couple o f cool ing showers, and air tempera tu re about 5 degrees coo le r than the usual 33 o r so. A n d the dreaded Mumuku headwinds over the last 60 kms of the r ide most ly stayed away. Managed t o pick up the pace a bi t as I got closer t o t o w n . Bad cramp in my left leg just before the transi¬t i on , and a br ief stagger when I got off the bike t o l d me I cou ldn ' t have done much more . 6hrs i2mins f o r the i80kms. O h , and n o w the marathon. Jon had warned me about the airless canyons of A l i i Dr ive and h o w vital i t was t o keep core body tempera tu re d o w n f o r the f i rst par t o f the run. "First, go s low." He said. I achieved tha t goal in spades. Metaphors of draught horses overdue f o r the knackers yard, called t o mind. T roub le was, I couldn ' t quicken. Then at about 20kms just approaching the half way mark, I looked at my watch and got angry. " A f t e r all tha t t raining, and I'm no t even going t o break i 2 hours! Go t ta do someth ing." Then I thought , if I t r i ed t o go faster ( and I d idn' t th ink I could) , and I crashed and burned, then at least I could still hobble/stagger the rest and get in before the race closed after i 7 hours. I also f igured tha t w i t h all tha t t raining, there just had t o be some glycogen (muscle energy) left in my muscles. So, " t h r o w the dice".

W e l l , going faster was really, really hard. The greatly increased d iscomfor t strongly suggested tha t I w o u l d indeed crash and burn. The k i lometres t icked by so, so slowly ,it seemed. Eventually, the 30 kms mark. "Stil l going. Just keep putt ing one f o o t in f r o n t of the o the r " . N igh t fell quickly, as i t does in Hawaii . Queen Kamehameha Highway had been closed t o traff ic and w h e r e I was still ou t in the lava fields i t was as black as pitch. Lights at only the occasional intersect ions, and A id Stations. Jon had warned me about that . Easy t o feel really sor ry f o r yoursel f ou t on those dark wastes and star t walking, as many did.

But then just a l i t t le, conf idence start ing t ry ing t o e lbow its way back. I was passing all these people. N o one was passing me. My eyes w e r e seeing these posit ive things but I d idn ' t dare believe them. A n d ye t I

still hadn't crashed and burned.

Finally, finally, only 5kms t o go. The flu hadn't drained all tha t glycogen after all. I was going t o nail this

th ing!

Really poured it on over the last couple of k i lometres. My daughter Ki rs ty and son Hugh jo ined me

i00met res o u t t o cross the line w i t h me. That was neat. I was absolutely stuffed.

For me the c lock had stopped at i i hours 56minutes and 5 seconds. "Yes ! "

4hrs 7 mins f o r the marathon. I had picked up over 30 secs a k i lomet re t h roughou t the second half.

Straight in to the wai t ing arms of vo lunteers t o steer wobb ly legs t o col lect medal and T shirt. Then an overdue " l ie d o w n " on mats prov ided. For half an hour I drank electrolytes and my duti ful daughter pe­riodical ly unlocked my cramped feet. A cheerful Austral ian f r o m the medical t en t hove in to v iew t o see if everything was O K . O n establishing my origins, and in tha t caring Austral ian way, he happily t o l d me I was a "b l oody id io t " . Tw ice ! I eventually arose f r o m the g round, but only because a sudden t rop ica l d o w n p o u r threatened t o t u r n my comfy spot in to a lake.

A f t e r that, recovery was quick and by the Monday no t much in the way of ache o r pain remained.

Turns ou t I was i i t h o u t of 49 in my age group. Bet ter than a poke in the eye w i t h a sharp stick, as they say. Pleasing t o o , t o get the hydra t ion /nut r i t ion equation p re t ty r ight and keep a clear head r ight th rough race day. My long suffering wi fe and family assured me that they had enjoyed it hugely. T rue ! I've even overheard t hem say it t o o thers. So, I'm happy. The I ronman demons slain. Then again, in some fu ture smother ing dream, wi l l the h o r r o r m o r e power fu l , resurrected demons re tu rn and I'm forced t o have another shot? W h o knows.

Supplied by Hon. Col Chris McGuire

Both above: Number 324, Chris McGuire finishes—a very fine effort

WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW.,. Everyone has an opinion on what it will take to sort out our planet Earth. In Superman Returns the world finds safety in the form of a special Visitor... but do we really want him?

Every day I hear people crying out for a saviour,* super man tells Lois lane in Bryan Singer's Superman Returns, as they debate Superman's worth. He'd only been gone five years and already Lois was super- anti; she'd even written a Pulitzer Prize winning article entitled1 why the world doesn't need Superman'. Often when surrounded by Personal and International turmoil and unease, humans often decide that we can sort things out for ourselves, not wanting to enlist the assistance of some thing greater. Yet help is just a cry away.

Superman's re- introduction to this world is full of various welcomes. A gallant hero is cheered by the masses as he saves an out of control plane. A close friend berates him for leaving. An arch- enemy is again is running rampant and bent over on destroying him. Sounds like another guy who came from afar to try and help our planet.

Singer was asked in Entertainment weekly if Superman was still relevant. It had been nearly 20 years since he'd last graced our movie screens and perhaps the world had moved beyond the need for some one to save us? The director was adamant in his reply, 'Look around, aren't we crying out for him? And as we fly along in our 2151

century world, the same question is posed to you and me - Aren) we crying out for a saviour?

Superman Returns shows us that some one can be a light to others and show us the way, even though our human tendency is towards selfishness and looking out for number one. This is a story of hope and potential, a fictional story that reminds of factual reality-that each life can be something special when we find fulfilment through some one greater. We're still crying out for a saviour. And he's listening.

From the Padre Hylton Froggatt

A Little Bit about a former C O and Honorary Colonel In reading through Christopher Pugsley's excellent book t i t led "From Emergency t o Con­frontat ion." (The New Zealand Armed Forces in Malaya and Borneo i 949-66), I noted sev¬eral references t o our fo rmer Commanding Officer and Honorary Colonel, Colonel Bob Burt. As many of our younger o r newer Battalion Group members won ' t have heard of Bob

Burt, I have extracted the relevant remarks.

"On 5 February 1965 ... Holyoake announced that the New Zealand battalion ... had been made available for service in Borneo ... An SAS detachment of 40 men had been offered ... in the same roles and on the same basis as now apply to British units. ... authority extends to re­connaissance, ambushes and attacks on Indonesian bivouacs and staging camps within an area up

to 10,000 yards over the border""

Bob Burt served first in Thailand wi th LTCOL DJ Aitken's Second Battalion, New Zealand

Regiment, leaving New Zealand on SS Captain Cook on 27 October i959.

LTCOL Aiken said: " I knew exactly who I wanted ... W e got a few terr i tor ia l officers, some were very goods. Bob Burt was one of them. Lots of young officers who were just out of Dunt roon and Portsea. They of course leapt at the opportuni ty t o get a platoon. I th ink we had i, i 00 soldiers; we were oversupplied, and one of the difficult jobs that had t o be done then was t o sor t them out. I th ink we were allowed 750 in those days, and we had to leave

the rest in a big company called 'E' Company behind—'Evil ' Company. ...

Bob Burt was t o return t o Asia some years later. Major Ogilvy, who had recruited and trained the first detachment of SAS as a LT under Capt John Mace also returned to Asia,

this t ime in command of the th i rd detachment.

T h r e e D e t a c h m e n t , January to May 1966. " . W h e n named as Commander Three Detachment, he (Major David Ogilvy) knew what he wanted f rom his t roopers and moulded them accordingly. He managed to secure Cap¬tain Bob Burt as one of his t r oop commanders, despite the Di rec tor of Infantry's belief that he was t oo old. Burt described Ogilvy as a 'very strong man in every sense, morally, men¬tally, physically'.

" . The first patrols were out at the end of February. Bob Burt t o o k t w o patrols, one un¬der his command, the other under Sergeant Danny Wi lson . Escorted in by A Company 2Royal Green Jackets, the patrols separated after crossing the Sungai Siglayan. Wi lson spent five days searching fruitlessly for an enemy camp on the Sungai Simangaris which eluded earlier patrols. A t the same t ime, Bob Burt's five man patrol was hunting for a suspected camp between the Sungai Simoja and the Sungai Wason. Af ter a difficult crossing of the Si-moja at midnight, they slowly patrolled the tidal estuaries between the t w o rivers in day¬t ime. Wh i le lying up wait ing t o return across the Simoja, the men faced other dangers. The sentry, Trooper Ben Ngapo, pointed out a rather large crocodile, which eventually went back into the water and swam away. 'But I can tell you, when Ben and I [Burt ] swam [across the river] that night, it was a terri fying experience. The water was dead still, there were logs and rubbish floating on the water. Every one of them as far as I could see was a croco-

dile . [but] it was the only way home, so we did it.

"The KOSB wanted the SAS t o knock out t w o of the three i 2.7 mm heavy anti-aircraft machine gun posts on the ridge overlooking the camp. For this task Ogilvy chose Bob Burt, who in turn selected Danny Wilson's and Johnno Johnston's patrols. Burt recalled: 'We were t o hook around the town to the left, cross a river, go up through a cemetery onto a ridge where these t w o guns were, drop off Johnno Johnston's op group t o take out one gun. My op group [was to ] go fur ther on round the back of the town and take out the other gun.' This demanded a simultaneous covert strike on both guns before the KOSB at¬tacked the town at 8 a.m. Burt's patrols 'were t o go in the night before, swim the river, go through the cemetery, take out these t w o guns quietly and get back across the river before it all started.' He was not exaggerating when he described this as 'quite a difficult opera¬tion.' Indeed it would have been by far the most sophisticated and difficult operation the

New Zealand SAS had ever undertaken.

" A great deal of planning went into how best t o disable the guns. Burt's background in building construct ion led him to devise a screw-in bolt of i2.7 mm caliber that could be f i t ted into the barrel of the Indonesian machine guns, Once f i t ted, they could not be un¬done and the gun was disabled. The bolts were manufactured t o Burt's specifications in the Gurkha Brigade's workshop in Brunei. Explosives were t o be placed on each machine gun's bodycase, t imed t o explode simultaneously at 8 a.m. as the KOSB began their attack on the town . The t iming devices were adapted f rom those used by the Indonesians in their sabo¬tage raids in Malaysia.

"Basical ly i t was jus t a l i t t le a la rm c l o c k and w e d r i l l ed a ho le t h r o u g h t h e glass, p u t a s c r e w in it , t o o k t h e m i n u t e hand off, lef t

i t so t h a t w h e n t h e h o u r hand g o t a r o u n d t o t o u c h t h a t s c r e w i t p u t an e lec t r i c charge i n t o t h e exp los ive . . . w e t r i e d t h e m o u t

and t h e y w o r k e d adm i rab l y . . . So w e ca r r i ed t h r e e o f these , o n e spare and o n e f o r each gun .

" W e ca r r i ed s i lenced Sten guns . . . I ca r r i ed t h e o n e f o r o u r g r o u p and Bill L i l l ic rap c a r r i e d t h e o n e in Johnno ' s o p g r o u p and

w e ca r r i ed t h e m because w e had t h e need t o take o u t a s e n t r y qu ie t l y . . . T h e y w e r e v e r y ef fect ive. T h e f i r s t t i m e w e g o t t h e m

I f i r ed o n e i n t o t h e g r o u n d ou ts ide t h e w i n d o w o f t h e O f f i ce rs ' Mess and D a v i d Og i l v y w h o was leaning against t h e w i n d o w

never heard it.

"Burt 's t w o patrols went in wi th the KOSB infantry company. 'Every man jack that you could get was there. Many of them unfit. ' Half a day's march into Kalimantan the operation started t o fall apart. A KOSB soldier accidentally set off a smoke grenade in his webbing,

and this set fire t o a bag of grenades he was carrying. " W o r d came back, ' G e t o f f t h e t r ack ' . T h e y d i d n ' t te l l us w h y , b u t w e c o u l d see t h a t a p h o s p h o r o u s g renade had gone up

ahead o f us . T h e n t h e w o r d came back t h a t t h e r e was a bag o f g renades bu rn ing jus t up t h e t r a c k and w e w o u l d w a i t un t i l i t

all w e n t o f f and see w h a t r eac t i on was a r o u n d us and w e m igh t have t o go h o m e . M y guys jus t lay t h e r e qu ie t l y wa i t i ng , b u t t h e

w a i t w e n t o n and o n and o n . As i t t u r n e d o u t , none o f t h e grenades w e n t of f . . . T h e C o m p a n y C o m m a n d e r had jus t dec ided

t h a t perhaps w e c o u l d m o v e o n , w h e n he g o t a rad io call saying t h a t t h e a t t ack was cancel led.

"Lea had just announced that all offensive CLARET operations [of which this was o n e — Ed.] were t o cease immediately. Burt left an inconsolable KOSB company commander cry­ing in the middle of the t rack and went back t o brief his men. I said, "Wel l fellows we've got t o go home, it's all off." And do you know what they did? ... The tension just went out of

them like that , and they burst out laughing.' "

Bob Burt subsequently became the operations officer of the detachment.

Compi led by Capt RB Skeet

"No better a soldier."

The following extract is taken from Christopher Pugsley's book "From Emergency

to Confrontation" and comes from Chapter 10, titled "No better a soldier". The

chapter deals with infantry operations in Borneo over the 1965-66 period. The extract

relates to an incident that occurred during the first tour of First Battalion Royal New

Zealand Infantry Regiment covering June to October 1965. This incident, as the text

will reveal, illustrates why this chapter is titled "No better a soldier". The incident also

serves to remind us of several other points; the value of training and discipline in field

operations and that New Zealanders are very good soldiers in jungle operations. Read

on. rs

"The next major contact occurred during A Company's Operat ion ANGLE IRON in Late July. This was intended to eliminate a small border checkpoint on the Perempang-Lubok Antu track, just outside the company-sized Indonesian base at Soependok. By the 28th, A Company had crossed the border and was moving down a broad, gently sloping spur cov¬ered in knee-high grass towards a small bush-clad feature some 300 yards away. Wor r i ed by the open ground, Thorpe halted his rear platoon on a low ridge whi le his leading platoon

made the final approach t o the feature.

"As they approached the trees, machine-gun and small arms fire raked them at close range. A 30-strong Indonesian platoon lining the edge of the forest yelled and fired at Brown's pla­toon as it spread out on the open slopes in f ront of them.

W e were only . i 0 o r i5 metres at the most f rom them. My forward section was in dead ground and it was really a question of grenades. W e used grenades, what¬ever we had, phosphorus grenades, the bloody lot. Anything that goes bang, and anything t o make them keep their heads down. I used the 2-inch mor ta r in the same way. Any th ing to cause noise to take the initiative away f rom t h e m [bold not in original text—Ed.] while the rest of the Company behind us pulled back

and got out of the way.

"Despite the intense fire, Private Jim Negri was the only casualty, w i th a bullet wound in the arm. Heedless of the shooting, the platoon medic rushed to help him, but as Negri could still walk Brown knew that the important thing there was t o get the hell out of it ... I virtually had t o push [the medic] out of the way and say "Hey, leave that for later"' as the

platoon wi thdrew.

"Thorpe, who was immediately behind Brown's platoon, described the attack as being

caught momentari ly wi th our pants down' .

It was both tactically and physically quite unlike my expectations. There was a great

deal of shooting f rom the hill directly ahead, and of course we all went down into the grass which suddenly seemed no longer thigh high, but very close cropped. The volume would be about the same as you would expect on a large rifle range when the instructor orders rapid fire wi th automatics . There were other sounds com¬ing f rom ahead of us too . To my astonishment there were shouts in English of 'Come and get it British'. A t such times life becomes like a slow mot ion movie. I re¬call being intensely irr i tated that Indonesian intelligence should be so bad it could

confuse a New Zealand infantry company wi th a British one.

" O n the ridge behind Brown, Sergeant-Major Howe James' i Platoon had gone to ground, wi th 'sweat dripping off [our ] noses, lying flat out on our stomachs listening t o "zip, z ip" and "zing, zing" of bullets coming towards us'. James raked the Indonesian position wi th fire t o enable Brown's forward section t o pull back. ' It could have been absolutely devas¬tating. W e were totally exposed on a forward slope. There was a hell of a lot of luck. That we actually inflicted a number of casualties on them was virtually unbelievable. My aim at the t ime was just t o t h row everything and any bloody thing at them, which gave them a shock and allowed us t o get out of it.' Using fire and movement by sections, A Company extricated itself as enemy mor tar fire landed on its flanks. Ar t i l le ry fire was called in f rom the Malaysian-manned gun at Lubok Antu , and the mortars ceased fire. It was all over in four minutes, the Indonesians having opened fire at 8.45 a.m., and the platoons being clear of the killing ground by 8.49. By 9. i5 A Company was back in its previous night's harbour

area.

"The Indonesians had caught A Company totally by surprise. It seems that in response to the Badau ambush earlier in July, they had occupied by day a series of platoon strongpoints some 500-700 yards f rom each of their main company bases. They held all the advantages in their ambush of Thorpe's company, yet only one New Zealander was wounded, and the rapid response apparently caused a number of casualties. Indonesian mor tar fire f rom Soependok was ineffective. By contrast, Iban cross-border traders reported that fire f rom New Zealand mortars and the Luboc Antu art i l lery gun had caused casualties at the bor¬der checkpoint that had been A Companies objective. When the firing started, the Indone¬sians at the checkpoint had left their trenches t o see what was going on and t w o were killed by the first art i l lery shell. Lieutenant Jim Brown was awarded the Military Cross for his bravery and leadership in this action. Private Tahu Ashby, who had already distinguished himself in the i platoon contact on 30 June/i July, had again showed his mastery of the Bren gun in suppressing one of the Indonesian machine guns during this action, for which

he was awarded the Military Medal."

A N G L E I R O N highlighted the gulf be tween the inferior t ra in ing and poor shoot ing skills of the Indonesian police br igade, and the i m m e d i a t e and aggres­sive react ion of the N e w Z e a l a n d e r s , instil led by ongoing t ra in ing and rehears¬als. [bold not in original text—Ed.] It was this preparation that enabled Thorpe's Company t o fight its way out of what should have been a disaster. Brown himself had no doubt. 'Everybody reacted exactly how we had dril led [in section and platoon tactics] on the football field. It was instinctive because it had been dril led in ... it's those opening few sec­ onds of an engagement that are the most critical.' [underline inserted—Ed.]

Surprise! A psychological state of no t expect ing an event. A n opponen t may be surpr ised in many di f ferent dimen¬

sions, f o r example, t ime, place, method , o r by new technologies. Surprise is usually, although no t always,

co inc ident w i t h a failure t o prepare adequately, o r at all, f o r the unexpected event. The result can be ex¬

t remely psychologically unbalancing and aid the achiever o f surprise in the dest ruct ion o f a larger propor¬

t ion o f an enemy force at a l owe r cost o r faster speed. Surprise, there fo re , is a power fu l fo rce mult ipl ier.

Its achievement on all levels o f war-strategic, operat ional and tactical-has always been considered one of

the most impor tan t elements of v ic tory . Surprise is both diff icult t o achieve and easy t o lose. Its advan¬

tages are typically t empora ry and must be quickly explo i ted. The cont inuing ability t o achieve surprise de¬

spite improved intelligence is a t t r ibu ted t o many factors. ( i ) It is diff icult t o separate accurate in format ion

f r o m incor rec t in format ion, common ly called noise. (2) Efforts must be undertaken t o deceive the adver¬

sary. (3) Object iv i ty is necessary in assessing the intent ions and capability of an adversary (4) Intelligence

gathering is poli t ical. (5) Organisat ional behaviours tend t o inhibi t the accurate and t imely f l ow of informa¬

t ion between organizations. (6) A n adequate amount o f t ime t o assess in format ion and intell igence is usu¬

ally lacking. (7) The paradoxical nature o f surprise means tha t a course o f act ion considered t o o risky f o r

the enemy t o choose is usually no t prepared f o r and is the re fo re m o r e likely t o succeed. Achieving initial

surprise alone is typically insufficient t o achieve final v ic tory , wh ich usually depends on polit ical, economic

and mil i tary factors.

The execution of a military surprise is always dangerous, and the general who is never taken off his guard himself, and never loses an opportunity of striking at an unguarded foe, will be most

likely to succeed in war.

Thucydides

Even brave men are dismayed by sudden perils.

Tacitus

To be defeated is pardonable; to be surprised-never!

Napoleon.

[F rom the "D ic t i ona ry of Modern Strategy and Tact ics" by Michael Keane]

Tactical asymmetry in N.Z. Wars Mat thew W r i g h t , in his book " T w o Peoples, O n e Land," provides an example o f asymmetr ical war fare

when he discusses the difference between Maor i and Imperial soldiers in the i860's.

" . . . T h e t a c t i c a l a s y m m e t r y w a s u n d e r s t o o d ; G o r e - B r o w n e w a r n e d h i s s u p e r i o r s t h a t t h e r e w a s n o d o u b t ' a s

t o t h e s u p e r i o r i t y o f H e r M a j e s t y ' s T r o o p s , w h e n a b l e t o i n d u c e t h e i r o p p o n e n t s t o m e e t t h e m in f a i r f i e l d ,

e v e n w i t h a g r e a t i n e q u a l i t y o f n u m b e r s ' , a d d i n g :

The Maories [sic] ... are perfectly aware of this superiority, and will never meet us in the field; but their knowledge and ability to avail themselves of the fastnesses of the country, enable them to inflict severe loss on us ..."

" S u c h t h i n k i n g u n d e r s c o r e d B r i t i s h m i l i t a r y o p i n i o n ; . . . M a o r i c o u l d n o t a l w a y s c h o o s e t h e i r b a t t l e f i e l d .

" I n s h o r t , N e w Z e a l a n d p o s i t i o n a l w a r f a r e w a s a l s o a s y m m e t r i c , . . . "

The above ex t rac t comes f r o m pages 90 and 9 i . See next page f o r def ini t ion of asymmetr ic warfare. rs

PAGE 37 KIA K A H A ISSN: 1177 5335

Something to think about?

As we see significant investment occur within the New Zealand Defence Force I note some interesting lessons coming out of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. In a book called "The War After The War— strategic lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan" by Anthony H Cordesman, one of the many interesting points made relates to man­power skills. Cordesman's comments in­clude the following extracts:

"Fo rce t rans fo rmat ion cannot be d o m i ­nated by technology; m a n p o w e r skills, n o t technology, are the key. The Af ­ghan W a r emphasized air p o w e r , wh i ch could n o t secure the coun t r y o r defeat t he Taliban and A l Qaeda forces tha t

w e r e able t o muta te and disperse quickly. The Iraq W a r began w i t h heavy convent iona l land forces and soon be¬came a heavy air- land batt le. Th rough

late A p r i l 2003, in compr ised air p o w e r ; a rmor ' ; intel l igence, survei l lance and reconnaissance (IS&R); and prec is ion. It showed tha t h igh- technology fo rces c o u l d d e c i s i v e l y d e f e a t l o w e r -techno logy convent iona l forces w i t h o u t much regard f o r f o rce numbers and the fo rce rat ios cr i t ical in past conf l icts. Since the fall o f Saddam's regime, how¬ever, t he Uni ted States has been fo rced

t o re invent t he way in wh ich it uses its forces in Iraq. Techno logy and an em¬phasis o n dest roy ing enemy hard tar¬gets and major weapons systems failed w h e n the p rob lem became conf l ic t ter¬minat ion, a rmed nat ion bui lding, and low- in tens i ty war fare . The mi l i tary mis¬sion o f low- in tens i ty combat , economic aid, c iv i l -mi l i tary relat ions, securi ty, and in fo rmat ion campaigns are m a n p o w e r domina ted , and they requ i re skilled

mi l i tary m a n p o w e r as we l l as n e w f o rms o f civil exper t ise in o t h e r depar t ­ments as we l l . H U M I N T can still be m o r e impo r tan t than technical collec¬t i o n ; local exper ience and language skills are cr i t ical ; and the abil i ty t o use aid dol lars can be m o r e impor tan t than the abil i ty t o use bullets. . . . Creat ing the p r o p e r m ix o f capabilit ies f o r asym¬met r i c war fare , low- in tens i ty conf l ict , secur i ty and Phase IV operat ions, and nat ion building requires large numbers o f skilled and exper ienced personnel . Techno logy at best aids-and does n o t subst i tute f o r - f o r ce size and m a n p o w e r

numbers . "

It is interesting to reflect upon that which makes New Zealand soldiers so successful; e.g. East Timor and Afghanistan - the quality of our personnel!

Technology is all very fine, but....

Anthony Cordesman makes some interest¬

ing comments on the limits of technology:

"Technology-based fo rce t ransforma¬t i on and the revo lu t ion in mi l i tary af¬fairs are t oo l s w i t h severe and some¬t imes cr ippl ing l imits. The abil i ty t o p rov ide IS&R coverage o f t he w o r l d is o f immense value. IS&R does not , how¬ever, p rov ide the abil i ty t o understand the w o r l d , deal w i t h comp lex pol i t ical

Some definitions Some definitions from the "Dictionary of Modern Strategy and Tactics" by Mi­chael Keane: ISBN 1-59114-429-9 that you may find interesting.

rs

C o l l a t e r a l D a m a g e

U n i n t e n d e d damage t o peop le o r p r o p e r t y , w h i c h are n o t lawfu l t a r ­gets , resu l t i ng f r o m a m i l i t a r y a t tack . Some a m o u n t o f co l la te ra l damage is

issues, f ight effectively in t he face o f t e r r o r i s m and many f o rms o f l ow-intensity conf l ic t and asymmetr ic war¬fare, manage conf l ic t t e rm ina t i on and peacemaking, and p r o t e c t nat ion build¬ing.

The abil i ty t o make use o f precis ion weapons, he l icopter mobi l i ty and ar¬m o u r t o des t roy enemy convent iona l forces and b l o w up f ixed targets a round the c lock is also o f great tact ical value, bu t it does n o t mean tha t defeating

a fo reseeab le consequence o f m o s t m i l i t a ry a t tacks , g iven t h e imp rec i s i on

o f w e a p o n r y and its po ten t i a l f o r de¬s t r u c t i o n . Co l l a te ra l damage, par t icu¬lar ly u n i n t e n d e d civi l ian casualt ies, can ser ious ly u n d e r m i n e publ ic s u p p o r t

f o r mi l i t a ry act i o n.

A s y m m e t r i c W a r f a r e

Hos t i l e ac t ion b e t w e e n fo r ces t h a t

are vast ly d iss imi lar in f o r c e compos i¬t i o n , defense p o s t u r e , cu l tu ra l and ph i losoph ica l perspec t ives o n v io lence and w a r , and / o r s t ra teg ic ob jec t i ves .

enemy's convent iona l forces really w ins wars . . The re is a need t o create mili¬ta ry forces w i t h extensive exper ience in c iv i l -mi l i tary act ion in addi t ion t o forces t ha t can use aid as effectively as weap¬ons-dol lars as we l l as bul lets. It also means redef in ing in te roperab i l i t y t o recognize tha t l ow- tech allied forces engaged in nat ion building, c iv i l -mi l i tary affairs missions, and securi ty missions can o f ten be as effect ive as, o r m o r e

effective than, high-tech U.S. fo rces . " rs

T h e tac t ics and w e a p o n s e m p l o y e d are usual ly n o n t r a d i t i o n a l . A l t h o u g h

t h e t e r m has ga ined w i d e usage re¬cen t l y t o descr ibe t e r r o r i s t t h r e a t s f r o m n o n - s t a t e a c t o r s - e s p e c i a l l y t h r e a t s c o n c e r n i n g w e a p o n s o f mass d e s t r u c t i o n , a t tacks o n civi l ians, and i n f o r m a t i o n w a r f a r e - t h e c o n c e p t is as

o l d as w a r f a r e itself. T h e t e r m ' s mod¬e r n c o n n o t a t i o n is t h e ab i l i ty t o

cheaply e x p l o i t m o d e r n t e c h n o l o g y

against indus t r ia l i zed soc ie ty and in¬

f l i c t cos t l y damage in t e r m s o f b o t h

e c o n o m i c cos t and psycholog ica l im¬

pact. rs

Whakatangata Kia Kaha C h r i s t m a s 2006: S e r v i c e to Q u e e n , C o u n t r y and U n i t — " L e s t w e F o r g e t "

Regimental Alliances—a reminder. The fo l lowing extract , taken f r o m "Comrades Braves", the history of 6th Hauraki Battal ion, by Richard Taylor , provides in format ion on the Regimental alliances tha t 6 Hau has w i t h the Royal Green Jackets, the Royal Regiment o f Fusiliers and the 5/6 Battalion Royal V ic tor ian Regiment. Given some of the changes cur rent ly occur r ing in some units o f the U K A r m y , and part icularly ou r allied Regiment the

Royal Green Jackets, i t is t imely t o ref lect on o u r Al l iance w i t h these t w o U K Units. rs

Royal Green Jackets. The Hauraki Regiment's first Regimental Alliance, t o the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, was approved in February 1913. The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was formed in 1881 as the Oxfordshire Light Infan­try, as an amalgam of the 43rd of Foot ( from Monmouthshire) and the 52nd of Foot ( f rom Oxfordshire). In 1908, the Regiment was renamed the Oxfordshire and Bucking¬hamshire Light Infantry. Monmouth Redoubt, in Tauranga, was garrisoned by the 43rd for

a t ime during the New Zealand Wars.

In 1958, the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was brigaded wi th The King's Royal Rifle Corps and The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort 's Own) t o fo rm the Green Jackets Brigade, at which t ime the three units were renamed 1st, 2nd and 3rd Green Jackets respectively. On 1 January 1968, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Green Jackets were

formally amalgamated as one large Regiment.

Six months later, on 1 June 1968, The Royal Green Jackets was brigaded wi th the Light Infantry Brigade (another amalgam of four Regiments—including the old 68th Durham Light Infantry, which had fought at Gate Pa—as one large Regiment), t o fo rm the Light Infantry Division. The Light Infantry Division's Headquarters are (1998) currently near

Winchester.

6 RNZIR's Regimental Alliance t o the Royal Green Jackets is derived f rom that of the

Hauraki Regiment t o the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in 1913.

The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. The Hauraki Regiment's second Regimental Alliance \, t o the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, was approved on 14 October 1925. The Royal War ­wickshire Regiment was raised in 1685 as the 6th Regiment of Foot, and renamed the 1st Warwickshire Regiment in 1782. In 1832, the Regiment was renamed the Royal (1st)

Warwickshire Regiment.

The Royal Warwickshire Regiment's affiliation wi th the Hauraki Regiment was based on the fact that, since 1685, it had been the sixth in seniority of the British Regiments of Foot. In 1963, the Royal Warwickshire Regiment joined the Fusilier Brigade, which had been formed in 1957. On 23 Apr i l 1968, the Fusilier Brigade was reorganized as the

Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. A 6th (Volunteer) Battalion was raised in 1975.

The Regimental Headquarters is in the Tower of London. The colours on the 6 RNZIR's

stable belt, Thames Blue and Gold, are those on the hackles once wo rn by the men of

the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. The colours recall the period when the old 6th Regi¬

ment of Foot once guarded the Tower of London and the Crown Jewels.

6 RNZIR's Regimental Alliance t o the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is derived f rom that of

the Hauraki Regiment t o the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in 1925.

N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E 6 T H ( H A U R A K I ) B A T T A L I O N G R O U P

Headquarters Cnr Devonport Road & 1 1th Avenue PO Box 2146 TAURANGA

Phone:(Battalion HQ) 0064 7 578 8139 Mobile (Editor) 0274 917 860 Email: (Editor) rskeet@xtra.co.nz

6th ( H a u r a k i ) Bat ta l ion G r o u p

Whakatangata Kia Kaha

6 Hau

Right :

T h e old P a e r o a A r m y Ha l l w i t h of­f ices , s t o r e a n d lec ­t u r e r o o m t o le f t— h o m e of t h e H a u -rak i ' s for m a n y

y e a r s .

R ight :

T h e old W a i h i Dr i l l H a l l , t h e c e n t r e of m i l i t a r y ac t iv i ty in W a i h i ; n o w de¬m o l i s h e d .

A Bit of our Past.

So Much Is Going On Readers wi l l note in this issue of Kia Kaha, the inclusion of some extracts f r o m various sources relating t o con tempo­rary mi l i tary issues. The pur¬pose of these inclusions is t o highlight the po in t that, as pro¬fessional soldiers, members of 6 Hau ought t o keep in formed about a w ide range of cu r ren t mi l i tary issues. The use of De ­fence Force Library material is f o r the same purpose. T o illus¬t ra te fu r the r the reasons fo r these inclusions readers may be aware of the of t quoted adage that mi l i tary forces most of ten t ra in f o r t o m o r r o w ' s confl icts using yesterday's tactics and technology. The simple fact is that in today's modern fast

moving technological ly complex conf l ict env i ronment , soldiers at all levels, have a great need t o be in formed about the 'goings-on' in the cu r ren t mili¬ta ry env i ronment , nationally and internat ional ly. A good case in po in t is Amer ica 's in­vo lvement in both Iraq and Af¬ghanistan. There are a number of significant issues relating t o equipment, strategic and tacti¬cal planning, quickly changing situations and human resources considerat ions tha t affect the mi l i tary abil i ty t o pe r fo rm and meet a nation's expected out¬comes. W h i l e some of these

higher-level issues don ' t t ouch many at soldier level particu¬larly, is makes good sense fo r

us, as Te r r i t o r i a l Force person¬nel, t o keep abreast o f contem¬porary issues, be wel l read on matters, t o engage in discussion and debate and t o const ruc t o u r o w n original thoughts about things. The Ter r i t o r ia l Force, and 6 Hau, are especially

lucky t o come f r o m varied civil¬ian backgrounds and have wide-ranging experiences that w e can apply t o o u r mi l i tary service. If this background is compl imented by a good level of knowledge about contempo¬rary mi l i tary issues and con¬flicts, then w e are able t o v iew

N e w Zealand's mi l i tary posi¬t ion f r o m a m o r e balanced per¬spective. A n d be bet ter sol¬diers. Capt RB Skeet