THE NEW ZEALAND PERMANENT FORCE

by W.L. Ruffell

INTRODUCTION

The story of the New Zealand Permanent Force embodies the origin and history of the Royal New Zealand Artillery (Regular Force) up to 1947.

In his report to the Government on the state of the New Zealand Forces dated 30 June 1885 Major General GS Whitmore KCMG stated,

The permanent force is being created from the ranks of the Armed Constabulary Reserve - a corps which needs no comment of mine to increase its reputation. It is intended to train 25 men and an officer as an artillery detachment at each of the ports defended by permanent works. These men have been detailed and distributed, and have begun to learn their duties, having put up their heavy guns, cleaned them up, and having been continually undergoing training in their use".

GOVERNOR GREY FORMS AN ARMED CONSTABULARY, 1846

To fully trace the 'ancestry' of the Royal Regiment we must go back to 1846 when Captain George Grey, late of Her Majesty's 83rd Regiment of Foot, was serving his first term as Governor General of New Zealand. Grey wanted an armed force capable of fighting anywhere at any time he might direct without argument or delay - a requirement neither the Militia nor the Imperial troops then stationed in the country would always meet. In 1846 he therefore authorised the formation of an armed constabulary (sometimes called an armed police).

Few records of this early force survive, but we do know the first applicants, one officer and 41 NCOs and Men of the militia, were enrolled in Wellington during April 1846, and took part in the fighting against hostile Maoris in that district. In May the same year a similar squad was authorised for Auckland. They were armed with carbines and bayonets.

The force included a proportion of Maoris. Grey gave special instructions that they were to be treated as Europeans in every respect, including pay, but were to supply their own weapons, possibly because they were to be employed as scouts and guides.

As the decade 1850-60 was comparatively peaceful, development of the AC Force along the lines at first intended was not pursued and it seems to have reverted to an ordinary police role. However, the mounted men at least were still armed, for we find the Government in 1861-62 purchasing new Callisher and Terry breech-loading carbines for them.

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COLONIAL DEFENCE FORCE, 1862

In 1862, faced with a �40 ($80) capitation fee for every British soldier serving in the country, and realising that the Militia and Volunteers were good for little more than garrison duty, the Government raised a new regular unit for the same purpose Grey had formed the AC in 1846. Although organised as a Constabulary, it was called the Colonial Defence Force, and not a few of its first recruits came from the AC.

However, the planners soon found that as a purely mounted force the CDF was not the complete answer - as anyone who has tried to ride a horse through heavily timbered country will confirm. Consequently special forces to confront the Maori in his natural element the bush had to be found. Jackson's and von Tempsky's Forest Rangers were the most notable, but their men were enlisted for three months only. Just when they were becoming proficient many would take their discharge

Under these circumstances reorganisation was inevitable.

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NZ ARMED CONSTABULARY FORCE, 1867

In 1867 the CDF and all the 'specials' were disbanded; in their place appeared a newly constituted New Zealand Armed Constabulary Force (NZAC). Not unexpectedly most of the CDF troopers and many of the 'specials' merely changed their cap badges and carried on as Constables. Thus continuity of descent was preserved.

The new NZAC was modelled on the Royal Irish Constabulary following the success of similarly organised forces in Australia. In its heyday the Force reached nine Divisions each of 80 men commanded by an inspector. Recruits were very carefully selected before entering the Depot located in the old barracks on Mount Cook, Wellington, once occupied by the British 65th Regiment. With few exceptions only literate men were accepted. As the rigorous training programme progressed further weeding-out occurred.

Foot Constables trained as Light Infantry, Mounted Constables as Cavalry (although they usually operated as mounted rifles), each branch being armed accordingly. Every man learned how to live and fight in the bush. Great emphasis was placed on initiative, as small parties led by a Sergeant or Senior Constable were often obliged to operate independently. Officers wore two hats - they held commissions in the Militia as well as in the Constabulary.

Royal Artillery NCOs hired by the New Zealand Defence Department that administered the NZAC provided additional training on field guns and mortars. Thus the Force was unique in New Zealand military history: not only could the Constables mount an assault as Infantry, but at the same time could provide their own artillery support!

Historians who describe NZAC operations during the New Zealand Wars rarely miss a chance to pick faults, but few if any do justice to other contributions the Force made towards the development of the country in general. As we fill in the gaps we find the NZAC did more real pioneering than many of those praised as pioneers. They were virtually self-supporting; they felled trees, sawed them into timber, constructed their own barracks, offices, mess rooms, stables, stores, etc. Some of their buildings are still standing, a credit to the men who erected them. On their stations they grew hay and oats-for their horses, fruit and vegetables for themselves, slaughtered beasts or meat, and did their own cooking. They were more capable of 'looking after themselves' than any other troops either British or Colonial, as reports on their general state-of health testify.

Defence area staffs being grossly undermanned the AC assisted in the administration and training of the Militia, built and maintained magazines, rifle ranges, redoubts, blockhouses etc, and kept military cemeteries neat and tidy. Of the last-named historic places few could now be traced had it not been for the early care and attention given them by the Armed Constabulary for when the AC 'marched out' neglect took over. The Force made and kept open long stretches of roads constructed bridges and culverts, all of which involved back-breaking labour in difficult country under primitive conditions. Along the roads they erected and serviced telegraph lines - and provided some of the first operators. The Napier-Taupo Road was a typical example. Their armourers, artificers, and blacksmiths ensured Government arms, equipment transport, and horses were at all times ready for action. In their 'spare time' they assisted the Civil Police, especially against criminals in the back-country which the ordinary Policeman was not equipped to penetrate.

All these tasks they performed without detriment to their military duties or training. Everything they did they did well, and their standing in the community was never anything but high. Without doubt the New Zealand Armed Constabulary was the most versatile, capable, and efficient body of men ever to serve this country in its formative years. We regular Gunners are proud to call them forbears.

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THE NZ CONSTABULARY, 1877

In 1877 the Government decided to amalgamate the Provincial Police with the Armed Constabulary at the expense of the latter. The whole Force was re-named the New Zealand Constabulary of which the Police and AC became separate branches. In the process the AC was reduced to a Depot Staff plus four Reserve Divisions trained and equipped for field service.

Later the Reserve was expanded to provide reinforcements for both branches. Prospective recruits had first to join the Reserve where they were sworn in under the Armed Constabulary Act of 1867. They then underwent training, including weapon training, before being posted either to Police or Armed Constabulary. The four Divisions previously mentioned became known as the 'AC Field Force'.

But for the Field Force the writing was on the wall; the need for internal security forces was fast receding while the threat of trouble from overseas was growing. In 1878 diplomatic relations with Russia became strained bringing about what New Zealand history records as 'the first Russian scare'.

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FIRST RUSSIAN SCARE

Having neglected coast defence to the extent that with the exception of two 40-pr RBL Armstrong guns at North Head armament was still of Waterloo vintage, the Government hurriedly ordering eleven rifled muzzle-loading 7-in guns and the same number of 64-prs, which in 1878 were the best available from British sources. However, by 1879 when the guns arrived in New Zealand the 'scare' had passed, so they were put into store and forgotten. The Kiwi 'she's right' attitude is older than you think!

In 1880 Defence made provision in a War Establishment for 25 Armed Constabulary to man coast artillery at each of the four main ports in an emergency, but made no provision in the Peace Establishment nor did they lay down any peace-time training programme. During the next few years the country suffered a recession. In keeping with the usual British practice of making the Armed Forces a prime target for economies in 'hard times' the Government in 1880-81 cut AC pay by 10%, and made several reductions in strength. In 1884 Defence began closing Field Force stations; the men so released from normal duties they put to work on the roads.

Then in the same year trouble between Britain and Russia again arose. Early in 1885 when hostilities were believed imminent New Zealand experienced the ' second Russian scare'. It must have been rather a good one for on this occasion even the usually apathetic public were moved to complain about the parlous state of the country's defences.

Thus prodded into action the 'responsible authorities' dragged out the guns they had 'salted down' in 1879 and proceeded to mount them '...in all haste...' to quote contemporary records. At first contract day labour was used, but the Government then ordered the 'unemployed labour' on to the works, a decision hardly conducive to urgency or efficiency. The 'chickens came home to roost' in 1890, by which time some of the emplacements had so deteriorated they had to be reconstructed.

While the forts were being prepared Defence withdrew some of the AC men from road work or other duties to put them through courses on gun drill at the Mount Cook Depot where two 64-prs had been temporarily set up on the parade ground for the purpose. A few received training on torpedoes - from an instructor who had first to teach himself.

History repeats itself, say the sages. Very soon the 'second scare' too died down and was forgotten. Reaction followed a familiar pattern work slowed down or ceased altogether. Many of the 'unemployed' was thrown once more upon the mercies of what passed for the Social Welfare Department in those days.

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ML OR BL, THAT IS THE QUESTION

Here we must digress briefly to mention the ML versus BL controversy that exercised the minds of British Army and Navy Officers from 1860 to 1870. In 1859 the British Government had accepted into the Services Armstrong rifled breech-loading (RBL) equipments to replace existing smooth-bore muzzle-loaders the efficiency of which had improved only marginally since Waterloo. Strange though it teems today the transition from ML to BL met with stiff opposition from many artillerymen. To cut a long story short, during the Victorian era Officers of both Services sweltered in an atmosphere of hide-bound tradition and unreasoning resistance to change. Unable or unwilling to tackle the few simple mechanical problems the new guns presented they took the easy way out. In 1870 both Army and Navy decided to revert to a comparatively primitive system of ordnance copied from the French. After 'progressing backwards' for about nine years technical advances in the U.K. and elsewhere (plus a particularly nasty accident which could not have happened with a BL gun), obliged the Services to take a fresh look at the subject. Finally in 1880 Britain resolved to catch up with the rest of the world and commence re-equipping Army and Navy with BL ordnance.

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SECOND RUSSIAN SCARE

Now to return to New Zealand and the 'second Russian scare'. By 1885 the RML guns ordered in 1873 were very much out-of-date; even though they were in new condition they would have been no match for the BL equipments with which most contemporary warships were already armed. The situation was really serious - so much so that for once the Government fully agreed with the advice given by experts on defence and acted upon it. In the same year (1885) Government ordered 13 BL 6-in and ten BL 8-in disappearing guns to replace the obsolete pieces still being emplaced around the four main ports.

By 1886 Armed Constabulary detachments had mounted most of the RML guns and made them ready for action. Royal Artillery NCOs continued to instruct them on gun drill and equipment, but more importantly were teaching them how to impart their new-found knowledge to others, for the AC were to be the future instructors.

Defence now began preparing for the arrival of the new BL guns the first of which were due in the country late the same year. They were massive and complex pieces of machinery; to accommodate them very large holes had to be dug and huge amounts of concrete mixed all by hand. Some of the work was done by ordinary day labour and some by the 'unemployed', but as funds were limited all AC men not under 'training were relegated to the task.

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continued...

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