Auckland ( Countess of Ranfurly ' s Own ) and Northland Regiment The 3rd Battalion , Auckland ( Countess of Ranfurly ' s Own ) and Northland Regiment is a Territorial Force Battalion of the New Zealand Army , with Headquarters in Arch Hill Auckland Army Centre . The unit consists of Company sized units which have their headquarters in Auckland and Whangarei . The unit is part of Training and Doctrine Command ( TRADOC ) headquartered at Waiouru ( see Structure of the New Zealand Army ) . History . The Auckland and Northland Regiments can trace their roots back to the early colonial days of New Zealand . The oldest unit it traces its heritage back is the Auckland Fencibles , a militia defence unit of Auckland formed in 1846 . They were a key player in the Invasion of Waikato . The unit then moved on to play other key roles in the New Zealand land wars , in which earned the battle honour ' New Zealand ' , which was not added to the Auckland Regiments battle honours and recently there has been agitation to keep it that way . 1st Auckland Infantry ( Countess of Ranfurly ' s Own ) Battalion was then formed from the amalgamation of the Victoria Rifles , New Zealand Native Rifles , Auckland Rifles , Gordon Rifles , Avondale Rifles and Newtown Rifles in 1898 . In Northland a similar amalgamation took place in 1911 after Sir Alexander Godley ' s reforms of the Territorial Cadre in 1910 . At the outbreak of World War I both the Auckland and Northland Regiments provided a 250 man company to the 1000 strong infantry battalion that was raised from the Auckland region . This was named the 1st Battalion Auckland Regiment with 2nd and 3rd Battalions being raised later in the war . Three Victoria crosses were won by members of the Auckland Regiment in the Great War . During World War II the Auckland and Northland Regiments contributed mainly to the 18th , 21st , 24th and 29th Battalions . The Regiments were awarded 10 battle honours in recognition of the role played by soldiers in these battalions . The Northland Regiment also has strong links to 28th Maori Battalion . In 1948 the two regiments were reformed as part of the post - war Territorial Force . The 11 / 4 Artillery Battery can trace its lineage to 1 / 1 Battery and 4 Medium Battery of the New Zealand Artillery Regiment . Then , in 1964 they were amalgamated as a Battalion under the umbrella of a single Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment and formed the current unit ; the 3rd Auckland ( Countess of Ranfurly ' s Own ) Battalion Group . The 3rd Battalion was formed by the amalgamation of the 3rd Auckland ( Countess of Ranfurly ' s Own ) and 15th Northland Regiments in 1965 . The amalgamation saw the new battalion become a TF battalion of the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment . This was until the later reorganisation of 1999 , which saw the TF battalions split from the RNZIR to become multi - function battalion groups . The Auckland and Northland Regiment became the 3rd Auckland ( Countess of Ranfurly ' s Own ) and Northland Battalion Group . In recent years , members of the unit have once more been called upon to volunteer for overseas service . In 2000 and 2001 , many members of the unit served with NZBatt 3 , the third rotation of Kiwi troops in East Timor . Soldiers from the unit have also formed part of two deployments to the Solomon Islands , the first in 2007 and the second in 2008 . Role . The role of the unit is to provide trained volunteers for overseas operations as required , as well as a trained pool of personnel to be able to respond to civil emergency tasks within New Zealand . In order to meet these roles the Unit trains regularly throughout the year . Training is broken down into three - hour training nights , regular weekend exercises and an annual two - week exercise . The unit is a multi - combat role Battalion Group in which CO 3rd Auckland and Northland Battalion Group can call on a range of different arms to achieve an objective . It consists of Light Infantry ; Light Artillery , Field Engineers , Medical Personal , Combat Service Support ( CSS ) and Communication support . Honorary Colonel . On 9 October 2007 former Governor - General of New Zealand Dame Catherine Tizard was appointed Honorary Colonel of the Regiment , a largely ceremonial role . In 2011 this appointment passed to Lieutenant Colonel ( Retd ) Grant Ellis ED , RNZIR , a former Commanding Officer of the regiment ( 1994 – 1997 ) .