| 9th Coast Regiment, Royal New Zealand Artillery | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1940–1967 |
| Country |  New Zealand |
| Branch | New Zealand Army |
| Type | Coastal Artillery |
The9th Coast Regiment,Royal New Zealand Artillery was a territorialcoastal artillery regiment of theNew Zealand Army. The regiment was formed in 1940 as9th Heavy Regiment, New Zealand Artillery and controlled the coastal defence batteries aroundAuckland.[1] The regiment was progressively expanded and by the end of the war had batteries all over the upperNorth Island.[2] The regiment was reduced to acadre in 1957 and disbanded in 1967, along with the other coastal artillery regiments (10th and11th).[3][4]
Since theFirst World War, the coastal defences of Auckland had come under a single battery, 13 Heavy Battery (13 Coast Battery prior to 1934). In March 1940, 13 Heavy Battery was broken up into three batteries and the overall force increased in manpower. The 9th Heavy Regiment was formed in July 1940 to command the Auckland defence batteries, which included both coastal artillery and anti-aircraft artillery. In 1941, the regiment was expanded to include the coastal artillery batteries which covered other ports in the upperNorth Island. At its peak size in 1943, the regiment consisted of nine batteries:[5][2]
The name of the regiment was changed to 9th Coast Regiment in October 1944[6] and in the same year, the coastal defences were effectively mothballed. After the war it was decided that only the defences at Auckland should be kept in an operational state by a small peacetime garrison.[7] In 1948 the territorial force was reorganised. All the New Zealand Artillery became part of the Royal New Zealand Artillery[8] and the batteries were renumbered as:[9]
It was decided in 1957 that the coastal artillery regiments were no longer necessary. That decision may have been connected to the British turn towards missiles as expressed by the1957 Defence White Paper. The armament and equipment were placed on a care and maintenance basis, while the regiment was reduced to acadre. Over the coming years, the equipment was scrapped and much of the facilities and land were sold off. The regiment eventually dropped to a singlequartermaster sergeant, but continued to exist on paper until it was formally disbanded in 1967.[3][4]