A, B, C & RDs of New Zealand Reinforcement Badges.

[atillathenunns]

The following Nominal Roll shows members of the 11th Reinforcements “K” Company.

[atillathenunns]

First Reinforcements
As quoted in my first post: — “The actual strength of the Main Body when it left New Zealand was 7761 men. It was accompanied by the First Reinforcement, numbering 738 men, so that the total strength of the force that left New Zealand on October 15, 1914, was 8499 men.”

At the time New Zealand was divided into four military districts, each district in turn had three Regiments of Mounted Rifles and four Regiments of Infantry, except for Wellington who had five Regiments of Infantry.

Each of the four military districts assembled their Main Body quota in the following locations: —
The Auckland military district was concentrated at Alexandra Park, Auckland.
The Wellington military district was concentrated at Awapuui Racecourse Palmerston North.
The Canterbury district was concentrated at Addington Park, Christchurch.
The Otago district was concentrated at Tahuna Park, near the Ocean Beach, Dunedin.

Under the Main Body quota system, with the exception of the 5th Wellington Infantry Regiment which was used to form the nucleus of the Samoan Expeditionary Force and the NZ Rifle Brigade, each Territorial mounted rifle regiment was required to provide the NZEF Main Body with a squadron of up to a 150 troopers, and each Territorial infantry regiment was required to provide a company of up to 350 men.

For example, in the Wellington district a regiment of Wellington Mounted Rifles was formed consisting of one squadron from the Queen Alexandra's 2nd (Wellington West Coast) Mounted Rifles, one squadron from the 6th (Manawatu) Mounted Rifles, and one from the 9th (Wellington East Coast) Mounted Rifles.
The Wellington Infantry Regiment was formed consisting of one company from the 7th (Wellington West Coast) Regiment, one company from the 9th (Wellington East Coast) Regiment, one company from the 11th Regiment (Taranaki Rifles), and one from the 17th (Ruahine) Regiment.

Squadron and Company Letters
Squadron and Company letters were initially used at all four assembly camps during August 1914 and early September 1914, after which the Regimental numbers were more commonly used.

As an example, the Main Body’s Wellington Regiments and their reinforcements were assembled at Awapuni racecourse in Palmerston North, on arrival at Awapuni Camp the Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment adopted the following Squadron letter designations—
"A" Squadron was initially used by the 2nd (Wellington-West Coast) Squadron.
"B" Squadron was initially used by the 6th (Manawatu) Squadron.
"C" Squadron was initially used by the 9th (Wellington East Coast) Squadron.

The Wellington Infantry Regiment adopted the following Company letter designations—
“A” Company was initially used by the 7th (Wgtn West Coast) company.
“B” Company was initially used by the 9th (Hawkes Bay) company
“C” Company was initially used by the 11th (Taranaki Rifles) company.
“D” Company was initially used by the 17th (Ruahine) company.

The two following photographs were taken in Palmerston North in August 1914, they show a troop of the 9th (Wellington East Coast) Squadron, and a platoon of the 9th (Hawkes Bay) company.





The following designations were used by the Canterbury Infantry Regiment at Addington Camp—
“A” Company was initially used by the 1st (Canterbury) Company.
“B” Company was initially used by the 2nd (South Canterbury) Company.
“C” Company was initially used by the 12th (Nelson) Company.
“D” Company was initially used by the 13th (Canterbury-Westland) Company.

Army List of the First Reinforcements
Unfortunately a complete list of names for the 1st Reinforcements has so far eluded me, the following is some of the names that I have found during my research of Wellington Regiments.


(Extract from the ‘October 1914 Army List’ showing Officers of the NZEF)

The officer in charge of the first Wellington Infantry reinforcements— Lieutenant Hugh Edgar McKinnon, Military Cross and bar, Service number 10/135.
Privates—
James Milton Archer, Service number 10/481
William Henry James Amos, Service number 10/398
Charles Bradley, Service number 10/1083
William James Clachan (Received a commission in the Imperial Army 14 Sept 1914)
Stephen Fisher, Service number 10/350
George Carl France, Service number 10/346
Frederick Joseph Hill, Service number 10/381
George Horatio Howell, Service number 10/373
John Henderson, Service number 10/841
William Peter Hansen, Service number 10/383
Sainsbury Johnston, Service number 10/392
Edward Hastings Moore, Service number 10/404
James Henry Arthur Mainwaring, Service number 10/431
William Waihora McNeil, Service number 10/463
James William McAllister, Service number 10/454
Charles Ritchie, Service number 10/511
William Lawrence Reid, Service number 10/504
Francis Leeson Sheppard, Service number 10/520
Leslie Joseph Thomas, Service number 10/544
Herbert Williams, Service number 10/1102
Evelyn Crawford Wood, Service number 10/547
Edwin Paul Zander, Service number 10/551

The officer in charge of the first Canterbury Infantry reinforcements— Lieutenant John Cecil Hill, Service number 6/1078

The following picture shows Private Harold James Toomer, Service number 10/251. Toomer was a member of “D” Company (17th Ruahine company) Wellington Infantry Battalion, and embarked with Main Body in October 1914.
(Toomer died on the 10 May 1915 from wounds received in action)



The Regimental badge and motto of the 17th Ruahine Regiment was officially approved by General Godley on the 14th July 1914, just 21 days before Great Britain declared war on Germany. The following picture is the original badge design that was approved by General Godley.




Parade photographs of the 17th Ruahine Company taken at Awapuni camp in August 1914 show no badges being worn.
The use of a NZR shoulder titles being worn as a hat badges by members of the Main Body is very rare.

[atillathenunns]

First Reinforcement Badges.
First Reinforcement Badges.
The 1st Reinforcements were unique compared to all following Reinforcement drafts, in that they had to report for duty complete with uniform, which was originally issued by their local Regimental HQ. All following reinforcements were issued their uniforms after their arrival into the training camps.

Therefore it stands to reason the badges supplied to the Main Body and their 1st Reinforcements would have been supplied directly from their local Regimental HQs, except for the 17th Ruahine Company whose badges were not available prior to their embarkation.

The sudden wartime demand for cap and collar badges at some of the Regimental HQs exceeded their stocks and it is not uncommon for photos of Main Body men to show them not wearing any badges at all.



The above photograph shows the top part of the superb collection of NZ reinforcement badges credited to belonging to Elden K. Stewart Neill that are featured on page 17 of the book Historic Trentham, first published on the 1st September 1917.
The collection is simply titled. —
Badges—1st to 30th Reinforcements.
N.Z.M.C., N.Z.D.C N.Z.A.S.C., QM. Stores, N.Z. Engineers. Records, N.Z. Field Artillery

Elden Neill’s collection is undoubtedly the earliest known reinforcement badge collection, and without doubt its inclusion in the best seller ‘Historic Trentham’ aroused widespread public interest that started people collecting NZ reinforcement badges.

It is worth trying to decipher the above 1917 snap shot of Elden Neill’s hat and collar badges, on close analysis the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Reinforcements are represented symbolically by Triple fern badges that were originally first worn by the members of the 6th Reinforcements.

It is also interesting to note that from the 4th Reinforcements to the 16th Reinforcements, only two types of cap badge frames have been used and a similar number of collar badge frames have been used, which suggests these were the designs that were typically used by Elden Neill.

Taking into account that Elden Neill was only one of two camp jewellers during the 5th Reinforcements and only one of three camp jewellers at the time of the 8th Reinforcements, this will greatly help narrow down the designers of some of the earliest reinforcement badges.



The following badge frame is listed by Lowe as a “Type No. 6” Hat badge and was worn from the 7th Reinforcements to the 13th Reinforcements.
Interestingly, the B/1, if it were to be taken seriously, it would not just represent the Wellington area, it would also include the. —
2nd (South Canterbury) Company.
6th (Hauraki) Company.
8th (Southland) Company.
9th (Hawkes Bay) company.
2nd (Wellington-West Coast) Squadron.
4th (Waikato) Squadron.
7th (Southland) Squadron.
8th (South Canterbury) Squadron.



The following badge frame is listed by Lowe as a “Type No. 4” Collar badge and was worn from the 11th Reinforcements to the 18th Reinforcements.
Again, if the D/1 were to be taken seriously, it would not just represent the Otago area.




All evidence points that Arnold Ashworth Binns was the second camp jeweller to set up shop at Trentham camp behind Horace William Lloyd.
All evidence also points that Elden K. Stewart Neill worked for Arnold Binns as his manager of the Trentham camp shop up until mid-1917 when Neill opened his shop as “Stewart, Neill and Co., jewellers, Trentham Camp.”
(After the war Neill became a well-known Jeweller in Petone)

[Wayne Ihaka]

well done - K company does exist

J and K company for 11th Reinforcements - was there an I company?

was there I company on other reinforcement draft embarkation rolls?

[omok1]

A pic of my 6th Reinfs taken some time ago. Shows "I" Company or Squadron plus a few hand made badges, modified badges and the rare over stamped "6" on 4th Otago

[Wayne Ihaka]

thank you very much for sharing...blimmin awesome

[atillathenunns]

Originally Posted by Wayne Ihaka

well done - K company does exist

J and K company for 11th Reinforcements - was there an I company?

was there I company on other reinforcement draft embarkation rolls?

A far as I know, "I" was only used by the 6th Mounted Reinforcements, but "K" company for 11th Reinforcements would be harder to find as was only in existence for very short period of time.

[JohnLynch]

Hi, I have been researching the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Reinforcement badges, and as stated by many researchers they were not worn by soldiers of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Reinforcements.

But, I have been examining these badges, and they were worn by Troopers who were 1st, 2nd and 3rd Reinforcements to the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, this makes sense as certain Troopers of the 6 reinforcements are wearing these Triple fern badges with numbers of 1, 2, 3 or no number.

So these badges were worn by troopers who were reinforcements to the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade.

Please provide evidence to disprove this theory or back it.

Thanks

[atillathenunns]

Originally Posted by JohnLynch

Hi, I have been researching the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Reinforcement badges, and as stated by many researchers they were not worn by soldiers of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Reinforcements.

But, I have been examining these badges, and they were worn by Troopers who were 1st, 2nd and 3rd Reinforcements to the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, this makes sense as certain Troopers of the 6 reinforcements are wearing these Triple fern badges with numbers of 1, 2, 3 or no number.

So these badges were worn by troopers who were reinforcements to the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade.

Please provide evidence to disprove this theory or back it.

Thanks

Hi John
The origin of the Triple fern badges with numbers 1, 2, and 3 had long been a bone of contention up until December 2009, that is until a bunch of collectors on the NZ Militaria forum began sharing their information which finally helped solve the mystery, that the Triple fern badges were not worn until the 6th Reinforcements.

You mention you have? or have seen? Photographic evidence of members of the 6th Mounted Rifle Reinforcements wearing a numbered Triple fern, if this is correct then it is really up to you to provide the “evidence to disprove this theory or back it.”

[atillathenunns]

Originally Posted by JohnLynch

Hi, I have been researching the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Reinforcement badges, and as stated by many researchers they were not worn by soldiers of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Reinforcements.

But, I have been examining these badges, and they were worn by Troopers who were 1st, 2nd and 3rd Reinforcements to the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, this makes sense as certain Troopers of the 6 reinforcements are wearing these Triple fern badges with numbers of 1, 2, 3 or no number.

So these badges were worn by troopers who were reinforcements to the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade.

Please provide evidence to disprove this theory or back it.

Thanks

Hi John
Do you have any evidence to back your statement?

[pukman]

Private John James Walsh 6/2790 ,6th reinforcements ,1st Canterbury Infantry company .

[JohnLynch]

Originally Posted by atillathenunns

Hi John
Do you have any evidence to back your statement?

Hi, because of the book, I cannot give too much information away, but the triple ferns with numbers 1st, 2nd or 3rd are showing up on Southland Reinforcement soldiers. There is a pattern !

[atillathenunns]

Hi John.

I had heard rumours that an Auckland collector has a photo showing a numbered triple fern badge being worn, but so far I have been unable to confirm the rumour.
I can appreciate that you don’t want to give anything away, but your claims do need to be validated, so I suggest we discuss this by private email so we can come to an acceptable compromise regarding sharing information on this thread.

[pukman]

Originally Posted by JohnLynch

Hi, because of the book, I cannot give too much information away, but the triple ferns with numbers 1st, 2nd or 3rd are showing up on Southland Reinforcement soldiers. There is a pattern !

I for one ,will be intrigued by your findings John .So far the only photo's of NZEF soldiers wearing the triple fern reinforcement badges ,I have found have been Infantry and mounted 6-8th.So if they were worn earlier it will indeed be a revelation .When is your publication due to be released ?.I would be interested in buying a copy.

Regards Iain.




For photo's of 1st NZEF soldiers wearing badges ,take a look at my Face Book community page 'Unknown Warriors of the NZEF'' and "Southland Soldiers and Nurses''
kiamatetoa.com (8th Southland Company at Gallipoli )

[Kiwijohn]

Having researched the landing of Edmund Bowler in some detail, after claims for some years by some of his descendants that he was the first New Zealander to land at Anzac Cove at 4.30am, it is quite clear that this is incorrect. He landed in the first tow off his transport, the Lake Michigan, as Beach Landing Officer with the 12th Battalion AIF and Headquarters staff. The first tow left the Michigan (12th Battalion War Diary) including Bowler at 6.50am. This places Bowler landing after 7am and before 7.30am. He landed some two and a half hours after a number of New Zealanders in the AIF had already landed in the first waves and splashed ashore around 4.30am. It seems this information was not accessed and claims checked by Frank Glen (writer of Bowler of Gallipoli). Bowler's own writing about his journey ashore and landing bears little resemblance to the pre-dawn nerve-wracking silent row ashore of the first landers, well documented in contemporary reports, unit documents and unit histories. Bowler was the first member of the NZEF ashore. Confirmation of the facts is relatively easy using readily available on-line access to Australian War Memorial Museum records. It will most probably never be known who was the first New Zealander ashore, although most likely he was a member of the 9th Battalion AIF, the leading boats of the Battalion being the first to disembark onto what was to become known as Anzac Cove.