A slice of Dunedin's early military history has been unveiled.
On November 8, 1861 soldiers from the Royal East Surrey Regiment 70th Foot landed in Dunedin and set up camp on a muddy piece of land, now the site of Arthur Street School.
A plaque honouring the regiment was unveiled at the school yesterday.
It was the culmination of four years of research by Dunedin military researcher Peter Trevathan, who approached the school last year with the story of the regiment.
''The regiment was sent to Dunedin to protect the residents of what was then a small settlement but also the goldfields in Central Otago which had only recently been discovered.''
Eventually the regiment would shift to new barracks above what is now Otago Boys' High School, but not before they made their views about their new home known.
''There were a lot of complaints about the wet and cold conditions at the site, so they might have been very happy to be eventually moved on.''
The regiment was based in Dunedin from 1861 to 1863.
The soldiers were well liked by Dunedin residents, who lined the streets to farewell them when they boarded their ship back to the United Kingdom.
The school's oldest and youngest pupils, Javana Eteuati (13) and Jasper Shoemaker (5), helped Dunedin deputy mayor Chris Staynes unveil the plaque after a special school assembly. .
