Active 1964–2012 Branch Army (Reserve) Role Light Infantry | Country New Zealand Type Line Infantry Size One battlegroup | |
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The Canterbury, and Nelson-Marlborough and West Coast Regiment was a Territorial Force (Army Reserve) unit of the New Zealand Army.
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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) & 2nd (South Canterbury) and the 12th (Nelson and Marlborough) & 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:
In December 2012, 2nd Canterbury (Nelson, Marlborough, West Coast) Battalion Group merged with 4th Otago and Southland Battalion Group to form 2/4 Battalion.
Battle honours
The regiment perpetuates the battle honours awarded to the 23rd, 26th, 30th and 37th Battalions, Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force.