19 November 2008
Soldiers in the New Zealand Army will be aiming for bragging rights this week as they compete in two prestigious shooting competitions at Burnham Military Camp.
This year eight teams of 12 people will compete for the Freyberg trophy on the 22nd and 23rd of November. The trophy is awarded to the infantry unit with the highest overall points score in a challenge cup format.
On the 25th and 26th of November, soldiers will also compete for the Queen’s Medal (originally named the King’s Medal) which is awarded to the Champion Army Shot. Sixty competitors including five reserves are gunning for glory.
“While competitions like these foster the positive spirit of competition among the battalions, they also hone and sharpen core skills that are important in ensuring the New Zealand Army are a combat capable and professional force,” Chief of Army Major General Lou Gardiner said.
The Regimental Colonel of the Infantry will award the Freyberg medal and Major General Gardiner will issue the Queen’s medal for best in the NZ Army.
ENDS
Media wishing to attend either of the competitions or seeking more information please contact Jane Mortlock, Army Public Relations Manager, Burnham on 03 3630032 or 021 2248658. Photo ID is required.
History: The King’s Medal (Now The Queen’s Medal) was introduced to New Zealand by King George V in 1923. Awarded to the Champion Army Shot, The Queen’s Medal is contested annually or as directed. Open to all branches of the New Zealand Army, the Queen’s Medal matches are fired in daylight only, firing the current in-service rifle.
The Freyberg Trophy was offered to the New Zealand Army in 1964 by Sir Eugene Millington-Drake KCMG, formerly a Minister in Her Majesty’s Foreign Service. In suggesting this competition, he was developing an idea that originated in 1907 when his father, Henry Millington-Drake, then President of the British Chamber of Commerce in Paris, presented to the French Army a challenge cup for a shooting competition between regimental teams.
This idea was further developed by Sir Eugene into a wider competition between Western Union Armies and a competition now called the 'Marshall Leclerc Prize' and is competed for annually by teams from regiments of the Allied Armies in Germany, subsequently renamed Allied Land Forces Central Europe. Sir Eugene expressed a wish that the New Zealand trophy be called The Freyberg Trophy and that it be a similar trophy to that presented for the competitions mentioned above.
He was a successful athlete in his youth and a keen shot in later life, and appreciated more than most civilians that military marksmanship is of little value unless it follows considerable physical, and indeed, athletic effort, which almost invariably precedes firing in war. He therefore stipulated that this competition should be contested under conditions approximating as far as possible to those of war. Although the competition rules have been rewritten from time to time to reflect changes in shooting systems, the original concept of high standards of marksmanship under demanding conditions has remained throughout.
Since 1965 the trophy has been awarded to the infantry unit with the highest overall score in the competition. Both Regular Force and Territorial Force infantry battalions are eligible to compete for the trophy on an annual basis. The aim of the Freyberg Trophy Competition is to foster a positive spirit of competition amongst infantry battalions in order to enhance esprit de corps and develop operational shooting skills within the units of the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment.
Currently 855 New Zealand Defence Force personnel are deployed on 14 operations, UN missions and defence exercises around the world, in places such as Antarctica, Afghanistan, Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands and Sudan.