New Zealand Army Ordnance Section

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}

{{Infobox military unit

| unit_name = New Zealand Army Ordnance Section

| image =

| caption =

| dates = 1915–1917

| country = {{flag|New Zealand}}

| allegiance =

| branch =25px New Zealand Army

| type =

| role =Storage and assembling of artillery ammunition

| size =

| command_structure =Under Command Officer Commanding Royal New Zealand Artillery

| garrison =Fort Ballance, Wellington

| motto =

| colours =

| march =

| mascot =

| battles =

| notable_commanders =

| anniversaries = 1 April

|identification_symbol=

| ceremonial_chief =

| ceremonial_chief_label=

}}

Authority was granted under New Zealand Defence Forces General Order 90 to raise the New Zealand Army Ordnance Section with effect from 1 April 1915.{{cite book |last1=Bolton|first1=Major J.S. |title=A History of the Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps |date=1993 |publisher=New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps |isbn=0-477-01581-6 |pages=55–57}}{{cite book |last1=General Orders 90 |title=Formation of Army Ordnance Corps Section |date=1 April 1915|publisher=New Zealand Defence Forces}}{{cite book|last1=Artillery Ordnance Section|title=Pataka Magazine|date=Feb 1979|publisher=RNZAOC|page=55}}{{cite book|last1=Corbett|first1=D.A|title=THE REGIMENTAL BADGES OF NEW ZEALAND|date=1980|isbn=0908596057|page=264}}

The section was very small, consisting of eight members and was under command for administration of the Officer Commanding Royal New Zealand Artillery (RNZA).

Foundation members were:{{Cite web|url=https://rnzaoc.com/2017/03/15/new-zealand-army-ordnance-section/|title=New Zealand Army Ordnance Section|last=McKie|first=Robert|date=15 March 2017|website=To the Warrior his Arms: The History of the Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps and its Predecessors|access-date=19 March 2019}}

  • Bombardier J Murray
  • Gunner C Marshall
  • Gunner W Thornton
  • Gunner R Ross
  • Gunner P Kesham
  • Gunner H J Adams
  • Gunner M F Johnstone

Members of the section were classed as non-combatants, and were to be employed wholly on their own special work and were not to be detailed for any other duty or work whatsoever.{{cite book |title=ROYAL NEW ZEALAND ARTILLERY |date=22 April 1915|page=7 |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19150422.2.56?query=army%20ordnance%20section}}

Based at Fort Ballance on Wellington's Miramar Peninsula,{{cite book|last1=Bolton|first1=Major J.S|title=A History of the Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps. New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps|date=1993|isbn=0477015816|page=56}} the section's main duties were the assembling of ammunition components for the artillery. Its members wore a variation of the badge of the RNZA with the difference between the badge worn by the Ordnance section and the Artillery was that the word "UBIQUE" was replaced by the initials "NZ".{{cite book|last1=Bolton|first1=Major J.S|title=A History of the Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps. New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps|date=1993|isbn=0477015816|page=31}}{{cite book|last1=Corbett|first1=D A|title=The Regimental Badges of New Zealand|date=1980|publisher=Ray Richards Publisher, Auckland|isbn=0908596057|pages=264–265}}

The New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps (NZAOC) and a New Zealand Army Ordnance Department (NZAOD) were gazetted on 1 April 1917, and the Ordnance Stores Section was absorbed into the new Ordnance organisation and this small unit was the foundation of what was evolve into the Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps in later years.{{cite book|last1=Bolton|first1=Major J.S|title=A History of the Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps|date=1993|isbn=0477015816|page=57}}

References