Waiouru army unit celebrates 130 years

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 12, Issue 553, 13 September 1994, Page 1

Waiouru army unit celebrates 130 years

By

Michele

Monaghan

One of the oldest units in the history of the New Zealand Army celebrates its 130th anniversary this week. Queen Alexandra' s Mounted Rifles (QAMR) was raised in the 1860's and was officially formalised under the Volunteer Act of 16 September 1864. Originally called the Alexandra Troop of the Wanganui Cavalry Volunteers, the unit has been through many name changes and re-organisations, but has always affiliated itself with Queen Alexandra in some way. Queen Alexandra was originally Princess Alexandra of Denmark. She married Prince Albert who became King Edward VII in 1 90 1 . Queen Alexandra was the most recent Princess of Wales before Princess Diana. QAMR has a long and distinguished battle history with the earliest overseas commitment being the Boer W ar. V olunteers left to fight for King and Country in 1899. During WWI the New Zealand Expeditionary Force included four mounted rifle regiments. Again volunteers from the unit went overseas and fought the war that was

supposed to end all wars. In 19 19 the unit took on the name it has today, although it changed several times in the intervening years. With the arrival of tanks in 1942, QAMR changed its name to the 2nd Light Armoured Fighting Vehicle Regiment (Queen Alexandra Wellington West Coast Mounted Rifles), and in 1953 the name was changed to the 2nd Armoured Regiment based on QAMR. In 1963 the unit became Queen Alexandra' s Squadron (QA Sqn), and in 1971 this was extended to Queen Alexandra' s (Waikato/WellingtonEast Coast) Squadron. In 1983 this was changed back to QA Sqn and in 1993 the old name of QAMR was taken on once again. Commanding Officer of the Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Neville Reilly, said that the key thing was that QA has been associated with the regular force armoured elcments since WWII. ^ The unit is unique in that the regimental colours are amber and black. Most mounted rifle Turn to Page 2 o?m DAiLYi

QAMR

From Page 1 regiments within what was the British Empire carry a colour with a scarlet background. The unit Guidon (the flag that carries the folours) is also unique as it depicts a ponga tree with Mount Taranaki in the background.