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The 3rd Field Regiment was formed in 1940 through the amalgamation of the field artillery batteries in Dunedin and Christchurch, and tasked with training reinforcements for the 2nd and 3rd NZ Divisions. It used the areas of Addington, Burnham, Wingatui and Hororata. In 1946 the Regiment became the New Zealand Army's South Island-based field regiment and in 1949 moved its headquarters to Central Battery in Dunedin.
 By 1950, with Compulsory Military Training in effect in New Zealand, the Regiment consisted of a Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) and 31 Battery based in Dunedin, 32 Battery in Addington Barracks in Christchurch, and 33 Battery in Invercargill. In 1961, with the disbanding of 33 Battery, RHQ moved to Burnham Camp, near Christchurch. In 1967 a Headquarters Battery was raised in Burnham and, in 1979, 32(E) Battery moved out to the camp, creating a mixed Regular Force/Territorial Force sub-unit known as Training Troop.
In 1978, the Regiment, equipped with 105-mm M101A1 Howitzers, consisted of RHQ, HQ Battery, 32(E) Battery and a Light Aid Detachment (all at Burnham), and 31(B) Battery in Dunedin.
The Regiment was disbanded in 1990, with the two gun batteries remaining in service as independent batteries. When 31(B) Battery was disbanded on 12 June 1999, there ended the Dunedin artillery connection that started with the formation of the Dunedin Volunteer Artillery Corps in 1863. The gunners of 31(B) Battery were absorbed into the Otago and Southland Regiment. The 31(B) flag, a 25-pr and M101A1 Howitzer will be kept in Dunedin. 32(E) Battery fired its guns for the last time on 7 June 1999 in Hagley Park, Christchurch, when it fired the customary 21 gun salute to mark the Queen's birthday. 32(E) Battery was reformed to become an Observation Party (OP) troop attached to the Canterbury, Nelson, Marlborough, West Coast Regiment, a Territorial Force unit which has a number of training roles for the New Zealand Army.
Photographs courtesy Mac McDonald. Click on the images to enlarge them.
See also:
Photographs of 31(B) Bty, 1978
Last Regimental Shoot with the 25-pounder in NZ
Artillery in Canterbury and Nelson, 1860-1937
Artillery Units in NZ During World War 2
NZ Artillery Units 1954-1964
NZ Artillery Units 1946-1950
NZ Artillery in the Post-Vietnam Era
NZ artillery units |
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