Canterbury, and Nelson-Marlborough and West Coast Regiment

The Canterbury, and Nelson-Marlborough and West Coast Regiment was a Territorial Force (Army Reserve) unit of the New Zealand Army.

Formation and recent history The regiment was formed in 1964 during the reorganisation of the army by the amalgamation of two separate regiments: the Canterbury Regiment and the Nelson, Marlborough, West Coast Regiment. In turn, those two regiments had originally been formed from the 1st (Canterbury) and 2nd (South Canterbury) and the 12th (Nelson and Marlborough) and 13th (North Canterbury and Westland) Regiments which had been initially raised in the early 1900s, following the formation of gazetted militia units in 1859.

The 1964 amalgamation saw the new Territorial Force battalion become the Second Battalion of the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. This was until the later reorganisation of 1999, which saw the Territorial Force battalions split from the RNZIR to become multi-function battalion groups. The 2nd Battalion (Canterbury, and Nelson-Marlborough and West Coast) RNZIR became the 2nd Canterbury (Nelson, Marlborough, West Coast) Battalion Group, with the following sub-unit types:

Companies A Company: Greymouth*, B Company: Christchurch, C Company: Timaru, D Company: Nelson, Support Company: Christchurch, Blenheim and Ashburton, Logistics Company

Artillery The 3rd Field Regiment was the Artillery Regiment based in the South Island. It had two Battery's, 31 (B) and 32 (E). 32 (E) Battery (Christchurch), was connected to the 2nd Cant NMWC Battalion.

Engineers

Medical Signals Transport Brass Band

In December 2012, 2nd Canterbury (Nelson, Marlborough, West Coast) Battalion Group merged with 4th Otago and Southland Battalion Group to form 2/4 Battalion.

Which now consists of three Companies: A Company B Company C Company

Predecessor units 1843–1845 Nelson The Nelson Battalion of Militia was the first NZ Army Unit formed in the South Island and one of the first in New Zealand. The settlers of Nelson had become apprehensive following a battle near Tuamarina on the Wairau Plains in 1843. Tensions became raised when settlers began marking out land which was 'owned' by maori. Captain Arthur Wakefield, who was the leader of the Nelson settlement had sent surveyors to the Wairau Valley, in a belief that the land had been purchased. The surveyors were removed by Te Rauparaha, chief of Ngati Toa, who made it clear that no such purchase had ever taken place. On this first occasion, there was no violence, however a hut which was used by the surveyors was burnt down which led to an attempted arrest of Te Rauparaha on a charge of arson. The Chief Constable who also served as the Magistrate along with a force of laborers armed with muskets, marched into the Wairau valley with the aim of handcuffing and arresting Te Rauparaha. Te Rauparaha urged that the dispute be held at a later date upon the arrival of Land Commissioner, but a shot was fired by one of the Chief Constables men. This led to a small skirmish taking place which lead to the death of nine of the Europeans and seven Maori, one of whom was the wife of Te Rangihaeata (Te Rauparaha's nephew). Captain Wakefield and 12 others were taken prisoner. Later Te Rauparaha killed the prisoners to avenge the death of the wife of Te Rangihaeata. At a later date, a magisterial hearing took place and found that the Maori were justified in resisting the taking of their land but the killing of prisoners might be allowable in Maori culture was not acceptable to the European systems. No further action was taken on Te Rauparaha. However, on the return of 27 survivors, which was termed as the 'Wairau Massacre', to Nelson the whole settlement felt endangered. Following a meeting in 1843, it was decided to build a fort on the hill where Christ's Church Cathedral now stands. This fort was called 'Fort Arthur'.

Fort Arthur had inner and outer barricades, the inner one having loop holes and corner watch towers, and the outer barricade included a ditch and drawbridge. The Fort was built by the New Zealand Company. It was to become in 1845 the first military "place of parade" in the South Island.

In January 1845 a Maori Chief, Paremata, Threatened the settlers in Happy Valley. Paremata had been captured by a Southern Chief, Tuawaike, and had had his ears cut off and then been kept as a slave. On his return, he set up a Pa at Wakapuaka. Payment was made for the land purchases from Maori, by the settlers. This money went to Te Rauparaha, who was the paramount chief of the area which included Nelson and part of Marlborough. The Kapiti chief kept all of the payments and Paremata expressed his frustration and annoyance at this. He lodged a complaint with the Commissioner of Land Claims, Mr Spain. A court hearing was heard in Nelson and Paremata was awarded a share of Te Rauparaha's payment, but the issue was far from settled. Paremata began to intimidate the settlers of Nelson and the outer areas into paying him more. Paremata went into the North Island where he began recruiting warriors in 1844. He returned to the region with 100 warriors in January 1845. Some of these men had come from the Waikato. Word spread around the Nelson Settlers that Paremata had returned with a force. After a few days Paremata had landed at the bluffs of the Boulder Bank and went to Happy Valley where he visited the houses of settlers and ordered them to leave their houses and give the land back, as it had never been paid for. Paremata declared that the land was his and if the settlers refused to leave, he would return and burn their houses down and make "Kai" of those who lived in them. The threats were accompanied by gestures which included raising their tomahawks over their heads.

Towards the evening, the Maori's left the valley and moved to Mr Jollie's farm which was a mile closer to Nelson. Fires were lit close to the thatched buildings and ripe crops in the paddocks. They made similar threats to Mr Jollie as they had done to the settlers earlier. They danced and whooped around the farmhouse till four in the morning, yelling in a threatening manner. Then they left, and threatened Mr Jollie that when they returned they would kill him if he had not left.

These two episodes reached the settlers in Nelson, and it was thought that building Fort Arthur was one of the wises decisions to have been made, as the fort would afford ample protection if Paremata and his men had attempted to sack the town. On 15 January 1845 the Magistrate, Mr Sinclair, who was accompanied by Mr John Tinline as his interpreter, went to Happy Valley and sent word to Paremata demanding his attendance. Paremata arrived with 18 followers armed with tomahawks.

Mr Sinclair issued a demand that Paremata and all his tribe should return to their Pa five miles away and stay there and cease molesting the settlers. This is when Paremata flew into a great fury. He declared that the valley was his, and that he would drive out all settlers from the valley. He then threatened Mr Sinclair by saying "that he would treat Sinclair and his interpreter as Rauparaha had treated Thompson and Brooks at the Wairau in 1843-by knocking on the head." Mr Tinline began to calm Paremata down and secured a promise from Paremata that no rash action would be taken for two weeks. In the meantime Mr Spain had drawn up land boundaries which belonged to the government and had been legally bought, and these were presented to Mr Sinclair and Tinline. The pair departed Nelson to see Paremata, however Paremata was on the warpath again, and attacked the settlers with greater fury than before. He assaulted several of the settlers and threatened them with death. He broke into a house which belonged to a Mr Gordon, and stole a large quantity of flour. He then took off saying that he would return in five days and destroy everything. On his way back to the Pa he burned the stockyard of a stock dealer, and destroyed a heap of shingles which were awaiting placement on the roof of a building.

The settlers of Nelson were furious over what had taken place. They raised their concerns with the general government. Three days after the burning incidents, the local magistrate called a public meeting and urged restraint, instead the settlers were out beyond the point of restraint and wanted to teach Paremata a lesson. The settlers asked that the magistrate accompanied by a force of volunteers, should go to the valley the following Monday to show Mr Spain's plan to Paremata and to warn him that any further breaches would result in his arrest and punishment.

When the next Sunday came around, the Magistrate called for another meeting and told the populace that he was going to write to Wellington and ask for police protection. The response from the settlers was that this was very foolish course of action, and this led to an expedition to deal with the whole affair once and for all. A force was formed and headed by Mr William Fox, marched on Happy Valley. There were several men in this expedition who later added to New Zealand's history. Mr Fox was later Premier of New Zealand, Mr E. W. Stafford was later to be New Zealand's Premier twice and Mr Alfred Domett would also serve as New Zealand's Premier. Mr John Poynter later was appointed as Nelson's Magistrate and Mr Charles Heaphy who was the first New Zealander awarded the Victoria Cross. The force was made up of 100 men armed with muskets and bayonets. When the force arrived in the valley, Paremata was not found. Instead he was in his Pa, where two clergymen from Nelson had visited. They were the Reverend's Reay and Butt. Mrs Reay had gone to the Pa by sea the previous night when they discovered that an expedition had been organised.

When the force had arrived at the boundary of the Pakeha and Maori lands, they dug in and cut a shallow ditch along the line. Some of the men worked with pick and shovels and others stood armed guard against any rush by the Maoris. The Reverend Reay appeared on the scene and refused to guide the force through the thick bush towards the Pa.

Paremata was eventually shown the plan and told of the ditch. He still protested this and said "that they had been cheated". He made no further trouble for the settlers and that was all that mattered to the settlers and the people of Nelson.

The Volunteer Force reached Nelson at 5pm after a long trek back, and it was decided that the Volunteers would disband, however they did decide to meet regularly and drill in preparation for any other trouble that might appear- this was in spite of a Government edict that armed drilling was illegal=

1845 Nelson Battalion of Militia

The Militia Act of 1845 made no specific provision for volunteers and was in every respect it was a compulsory system. The following notes cover part of the Acts main provisions:

1. With the exception of judges, members of the Legislative Council, Clergyman and Maoris, all male inhabitants aged between 18 and 60 were liable for service. 2. Police Magistrates and Justices of the Peace were to complete Militia lists every March. (These were posted up on the local Court House door). 3. Militia units could be formed for exercise and training in districts where a threat appeared apparent. (This threat had to be verified by the Governor). 4. Officers were appointed by the Governor, who also was empowered to "call out" the Militia for actual service in any case of imminent danger to a settlement. 5. Militiamen could not be compelled to move more than 25 miles from the Police Office of their district. 6. Militiamen who were called up for training were to train for 28 days a year.

The Battalion had two companied each of 50 men. the Commandant was Captain Donald Sinclair (Nelson Magistrate). His appointment and those of eight other officers was gazetted on 28 August 1845 (Gaz24/45 page 114). The Gazetted Officers were:

Captains Donald Sinclair John D. Greenwood David Monro Lieutenants Thomas Renwick Francis Dillon Bell