Ohinemuri Regional History Journal 31, September 1987
In early 1987 the Hauraki Battalion, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Peter Clarke, held its annual camp in Paeroa, for the first time since 1934. The early history of the Battalion is related in the previous article by Captain C W Vennell [see in this Journal: 6th Haurakis Early History - E].
In the period following the Second World War, the Haurakis became separated from their traditional "home town". During the Compulsory Military Training era of the 1950s, the Battalion grew so large that it had to surrender the area north of Waihi to the 3 (Auckland-Northland) Territorial Battalion and concentrate on recruits from the Bay of Plenty and South Waikato. But in the 1960s and 1970s, those lost districts were reclaimed and today the Haurakis cover the region from Te Kaha and Taupo to the Bombay Hills and Coromandels.
The Second-in-Command of the 1987 Camp, Major Don Thomson said that by camping at Paeroa this year, the hope was to make people of the Hauraki Plains district more aware of the historic links they have with the Battalion.
The Camp included an Open Day for the public and a Charter Parade on the final day of the Camp, 14 March.