First World War The 1st Brigade came into being in Egypt in early 1916, when the
New Zealand and Australian Division was re-organised in the wake of the
Gallipoli Campaign, and the
New Zealand Division was formed. Under the command of Brigadier General
Harry Fulton, the brigade initially consisted of four infantry battalions, being the 1st Battalions of the
Auckland,
Canterbury,
Otago and
Wellington Regiments. In this configuration, the brigade was transferred to the
Western Front in Europe, and fought through the
Battle of the Somme before the New Zealand Division was restructured. This saw the brigade reconfigured, swapping its two
South Island battalions (the 1st Canterbury and 1st Otago) with the two
North Island battalions (2nd Auckland and 2nd Wellington) of the
2nd Brigade. This placed all the North Island battalions in the 1st Brigade while all the South Island formations were in the 2nd Brigade. Following this, the brigade fought in the
Battle of Messines and the
Third Battle of Ypres during 1917, before helping to turn back the
German spring offensive in early 1918, and then taking part in the Allied
Hundred Days Offensive in the final months of the war. After the armistice, the brigade was committed briefly to post-war occupation duties until the New Zealand Division disbanded in early 1919.
Second World War The 1st Infantry Brigade was re-established prior to the Second World War as a Territorial Force formation manned by part-time reservists. At the outbreak of war on 3 September 1939, it formed part of the field force for the Northern District. At this time it commanded the
1st Hauraki Regiment (headquartered at
Paeroa),
1st North Auckland Regiment (
Whangarei) and
1st Waikato Regiment (
Hamilton). On 1 November 1941, the 1st Brigade became part of the newly formed Northern Division in the Northern Military District. The division's two brigades were the 1st and
12th Brigade Groups. Later the Northern Division became the 1st Division. The 12th Brigade Group was one of the new headquarters, and both these units continued to be manned by reservists. During early 1942, camps were constructed for the 1st Brigade Group in
South Auckland and the 12th Brigade Group at
Kaikohe. The 1st Brigade subsequently moved to a camp near
Warkworth. After the threat of invasion passed, the 1st Brigade and the other home defence formations were reduced in size during 1943. By the end of the year the seven brigade (including 1st Brigade) and three divisional headquarters comprised a total of 44 personnel, with the soldiers assigned to the Territorial Force units they once commanded having been demobilised. All of these headquarters were disbanded on 1 April 1944.
Post-war In 1950, Northern Military District directed four subordinate Area Headquarters, being Area 1 (HQ Auckland), Area 2 (HQ Tauranga), Area 3 (HQ Whangarei), and Area 4 (HQ Hamilton). In 1963, the Combat Brigade Group (1st Brigade) was established, based on the Northern Military District headquarters at Auckland. Headquarters Northern Military District was disestablished in 1970 and the headquarters became home to
Field Force Command.
Reformation In 2011, the 1st Brigade was reformed from the headquarters of the 2nd Land Force Group at Linton Camp. Its role upon formation was to command all of the New Zealand Army's operational units, other than the
1st New Zealand Special Air Service Regiment. As of December 2011, the brigade comprised: • Headquarters, 1st Brigade (
Linton Military Camp) • 1st Battalion,
Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (Linton Military Camp) • 2/1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (
Burnham Military Camp) •
Queen Alexandra's Mounted Rifles (
Burnham Military Camp) • 16th Field Regiment,
Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery (Linton Military Camp) • 2nd Engineer Regiment (Linton Military Camp) • 1st Signals Regiment (Linton Military Camp) • 2nd Combat Service Support Battalion (Linton Military Camp) • 3rd Combat Service Support Battalion (Burnham Military Camp) • 2nd Health Services Battalion (Linton Military Camp) • 1st Military Police Company (
Trentham Military Camp) == Order of Battle 2025 ==