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1st Brigade (New Zealand)

Field	Value
unit_name	1st Brigade
image	1 (New Zealand) Brigade Insignia.svg
dates	1916–
1939–1944
1946–1980s
2011–current
country
branch	[[File:Crest of the New Zealand Army.jpg	20px]] New Zealand Army
command_structure	Land Component Commander
garrison	Linton Military Camp
garrison_label	Headquarters

1939–1944 1946–1980s 2011–current The 1st Brigade is currently the largest unit of the New Zealand Army, and contains most of the army's deployable units. The brigade was formed on 13 December 2011 by amalgamating the 2nd Land Force Group and 3rd Land Force Group. Its establishment formed part of the 'Army 2015' package of reforms.

Previous 1st Brigades in the New Zealand Army have included a brigade in the Middle East and France, 1916–19, a home defence formation active during the Second World War (part of the North Island home defence 1st Division), and a 1 Brigade / Integrated Expansion Force formed to direct three Territorial Force-formed battalions in the 1970s and 1980s.

History

First World War

The 1st Brigade came into being in Egypt in early 1916, when the New Zealand and Australian Division was re-organised in the wake of the Gallipoli Campaign, and the New Zealand Division was formed. Under the command of Brigadier General Harry Fulton, the brigade initially consisted of four infantry battalions, being the 1st Battalions of the Auckland, Canterbury, Otago and Wellington Regiments. In this configuration, the brigade was transferred to the Western Front in Europe, and fought through the Battle of the Somme before the New Zealand Division was restructured. This saw the brigade reconfigured, swapping its two South Island battalions (the 1st Canterbury and 1st Otago) with the two North Island battalions (2nd Auckland and 2nd Wellington) of the 2nd Brigade. This placed all the North Island battalions in the 1st Brigade while all the South Island formations were in the 2nd Brigade. Following this, the brigade fought in the Battle of Messines and the Third Battle of Ypres during 1917, before helping to turn back the German spring offensive in early 1918, and then taking part in the Allied Hundred Days Offensive in the final months of the war. After the armistice, the brigade was committed briefly to post-war occupation duties until the New Zealand Division disbanded in early 1919.

Second World War

The 1st Infantry Brigade was re-established prior to the Second World War as a Territorial Force formation manned by part-time reservists. At the outbreak of war on 3 September 1939, it formed part of the field force for the Northern District. At this time it commanded the 1st Hauraki Regiment (headquartered at Paeroa), 1st North Auckland Regiment (Whangarei) and 1st Waikato Regiment (Hamilton).

On 1 November 1941, the 1st Brigade became part of the newly formed Northern Division in the Northern Military District. The division's two brigades were the 1st and 12th Brigade Groups. Later the Northern Division became the 1st Division. The 12th Brigade Group was one of the new headquarters, and both these units continued to be manned by reservists. During early 1942, camps were constructed for the 1st Brigade Group in South Auckland and the 12th Brigade Group at Kaikohe. The 1st Brigade subsequently moved to a camp near Warkworth.

After the threat of invasion passed, the 1st Brigade and the other home defence formations were reduced in size during 1943. By the end of the year the seven brigade (including 1st Brigade) and three divisional headquarters comprised a total of 44 personnel, with the soldiers assigned to the Territorial Force units they once commanded having been demobilised. All of these headquarters were disbanded on 1 April 1944.

Post-war

In 1950, Northern Military District directed four subordinate Area Headquarters, being Area 1 (HQ Auckland), Area 2 (HQ Tauranga), Area 3 (HQ Whangarei), and Area 4 (HQ Hamilton).

In 1963, the Combat Brigade Group (1st Brigade) was established, based on the Northern Military District headquarters at Auckland. Headquarters Northern Military District was disestablished in 1970 and the headquarters became home to Field Force Command.

Reformation

Soldiers and a NZLAV from the 1st Brigade during a training exercise in 2014

In 2011 the 1st Brigade was reformed from the headquarters of the 2nd Land Force Group at Linton Camp. Its role upon formation was to command all of the New Zealand Army's operational units, other than the 1st New Zealand Special Air Service Regiment.

As of December 2011, the brigade comprised:

Headquarters, 1st Brigade (Linton Military Camp)
1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (Linton Military Camp)
2/1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (Burnham Military Camp)
Queen Alexandra's Mounted Rifles (Burnham Military Camp)
16th Field Regiment, Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery (Linton Military Camp)
2nd Engineer Regiment (Linton Military Camp)
1st Signals Regiment (Linton Military Camp)
2nd Combat Service Support Battalion (Linton Military Camp)
3rd Combat Service Support Battalion (Burnham Military Camp)
2nd Health Services Battalion (Linton Military Camp)
1st Military Police Company (Trentham Military Camp)

Order of Battle 2025

Correct as at 5 Dec 2025:

1st (New Zealand) Brigade
- Headquarters, 1st Brigade (Linton Military Camp)
- 1st Command Support Regiment (Linton Military Camp)
  - 1st (New Zealand) Military Intelligence Company
  - 1st Signal Squadron
  - 2nd Signal Squadron
  - 3rd Signal Squadron (Electronic Warfare) (Burnham Camp)
  - 4th Signal Squadron (Burnham Camp)
  - 25 Cypher Section
  - Waikato Mounted Rifles (Brigade Reconnaissance) (Hamilton)
- 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (Linton Military Camp)
  - Queen Alexandra's Mounted Rifles Company (activated on 5 Dec 25 following decision by Chief of Army Major General Rose King)
  - Victor Company
  - Whiskey Company
  - Support Company
  - Combat Service Support Company
- 2nd/1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (Burnham Camp)
  - Alpha Company
  - Bravo Company
  - Delta Company
  - Support Company
  - Depot Company
  - Combat Service Support Company
- 2/4 Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (Burnham Camp)
  - Alpha Company (Christchurch)
  - Bravo Company (Dunedin)
  - Charlie Company (Invercargill and Nelson)
- 3/6 Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (Papakura Military Camp)
  - Northland Company (Whangarei)
  - Auckland Company (Auckland)
  - Hauraki Company (Tauranga)
- 5/7 Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (Trentham Military Camp)
  - East Coast Company (Napier)
  - Wellington Company (Wellington)
  - West Coast Company (Whanganui)
- 16th Field Regiment, Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery (Linton Military Camp)
  - 161 Battery
  - 163 Battery ( following a review by Chief of Army Major General Rose King will be augmented with 161 Battery to form 161 (Independent) Battery, RNZA
- 2nd Engineer Regiment, Royal New Zealand Engineers (Linton Military Camp)
  - 1st Field Squadron
  - 2nd Field Squadron
  - 3rd Field Squadron (Burnham Camp)
  - 25 Engineer Support Squadron
  - Emergency Response Squadron
- 2nd Combat Service Support Battalion, Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment (Linton Military Camp)
  - 10th Transport Company
  - 21st Supply Company
  - 2nd Workshop Company
  - 5th Movements Company
  - Combat Service Support Company (North)
  - 38th Combat Service Support Company (Army Reserves)
- 3rd Combat Service Support Battalion, Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment (Burnham Camp)
  - 3rd Transport Company
  - 3rd Catering & Supply Company
  - 3rd Workshop Company
  - 3 Reserve Company
- Queen Alexandra's Mounted Rifles (Disbanded on 5 Dec 25 following a review by Chief of Army Major General Rose King)

Notes

References

"Army Plan Takes Shape". New Zealand Army.
"The New Zealand Army September 1939 – March 1941". Combined Arms Research Library.
"Barrowclough, Harold Eric". Ministry for Culture and Heritage / Te Manatū Taonga.
"Agency Full Description". National Archives.
(October 2011). "Army 2015 – Our Future in Focus". Army News.
"1 (NZ) Brigade Organisation Chart". New Zealand Army.
"NZ Army Order of Battle as of 5 Dec 2025". New Zealand Army.
"NZ Army Order of Battle as of 28 February 2020". New Zealand Army.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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