The Divisional Cavalry Regiment was New Zealand’s first armoured unit. It served as a reconnaissance force for the 2nd New Zealand Division. The regiment fought in Greece, Crete, North Africa and Italy during the Second World War. It formed part of J Force, New Zealand’s contribution to the occupation of Japan at the end of the war. It was disbanded on 1 September 1947 after being deployed to Japan as a regiment.
About Divisional Cavalry Regiment (New Zealand) in brief
The Divisional Cavalry Regiment was New Zealand’s first armoured unit. It served as a reconnaissance force for the 2nd New Zealand Division. The regiment fought in Greece, Crete, North Africa and Italy during the Second World War. It formed part of J Force, New Zealand’s contribution to the occupation of Japan at the end of the war. It was disbanded on 1 September 1947 after being deployed to Japan as a regiment in 1946. The Regiment was formed on 29 September 1939 and was mobilised as part of 2 NZEF in September 1939. It had a headquarters, a headquarters squadron and a machine-gun squadron; the structure was soon changed to conform with that of the British Divisionale Cavalry Regiments. It fought at the first and second battles of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa. It also fought in the Moro River Campaign on the Adriatic coast in December 1941. In January 1943 it was based at Castel Benito, and participated in the Battle. of the Mareth Line in March. In October 1945 it was reorganised as the Divisional cavalry Battalion, an infantry unit, because its armoured cars were unsuitable for Italian terrain. It reached Trieste in the first week of May and was stationed there until February 1946. In March, the regiment completed its training in New Zealand and was attached to the Second Echelon of the Second NZEF, with plans to send one squadron of the regiment to Egypt.
In June, the Regiment experienced its first fatality when Trooper Vincent Thompson died of a gunshot wound to the head during a training exercise. In July, it was sent to Syria to prevent an Axis attack from Turkey and was sent back to Egypt after the British rout in the battle of Gazala. In September, it deployed to Kyushu, Japan, where it was disbanded in September 1947. The Divisional Cavry Regiment is now called the 3rd Battalion of the New Zealand Regiment of Cavalry, based at Ngāruawāhia Military Camp, except for No. 3 Squadron, which was formed at Narrow Neck. It is still in existence today and is the only regiment to have served in both the Second and Third World Wars. It has been named after a World War I veteran and Military Cross recipient, Lieutenant Colonel Caro Pierce, who commanded the regiment in the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force from 1939 to 1945. The 3rd Cavalry is now based at Maadi, the central New Zealand base for 2 Zealand and the training area for the Middle East East East and North Africa region. The division was part of the 2 second New Zealand expeditionary force and served in Greece and Crete during the war, as well as in North Africa, Italy and Japan. The Battalion was disbanded after being sent to Japan in 1947 and the regiment is now known as the 3nd Battalion of New Zealand Cavalry. It remains in existence to this day.
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This page is based on the article Divisional Cavalry Regiment (New Zealand) published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 03, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
