Otago and Southland Regiment

The Otago and Southland Regiment is a Territorial Force unit of the New Zealand Army. It was originally formed in 1948 by the amalgamation of two separate regiments:

• Otago Regiment
• Southland Regiment

In turn, those two regiments were the heirs of the original 4th (Otago Rifles) Regiment, 10th (North Otago) Regiment, 8th (Southland Rifles) Regiment and 14th (South Otago) Regiment formed in the early 1900s.

The regiment become a TF battalion of the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment in 1964 during the reorganisation of the army. This was until the later reorganisation of 1999, which saw the TF battalions split from the RNZIR to become multi-function battalion groups. The Otago and Southland Regiment became the 4th Otago and Southland Battalion Group, with the following unit types:

• Infantry – Otago Company, Southland Company, New Zealand Scottish Company (formerly unit of Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps)
• Medical – Field Surgical Team, Otago University Medical Company
• Logistics – Unit Supply Team
• Band

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

• Battle Honours (the regiment perpetuates the battle honours of the 23rd, 26th, 30th and 37th Battalions, Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force)
  • South Africa 1900–1902
  • First World War: Somme 1916–1918, Messines 1917, Ypres 1917, Passchendaele, Bapaume 1918, Cambrai 1918, ANZAC, France and Flanders 1916–18, Gallipoli, Egypt 1915–16, Galatas
  • Second World War: Mount Olympus, Sidi Rezegh 1941, El Alamein, Orsogna, Tebaga Gap, Cassino 1, The Senio, Solomons
  • Second World War (awarded to NZEF Battalions): Solomons, Vella Lavella, Green Islands, South Pacific 1942–44

Alliances

• United Kingdom – The Highlanders
• United Kingdom – The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's Lancashire and Border)
• Australia – The Royal South Australia Regiment

External links

• [1]