Air Rank RNZAF officers

[flyinghilly]

I have been quite successful in seeking out infornation on all the Chief's of the Air Force (and Chief's of the Air Staff) and I have found contact information on ost of the men who are still alive except for a few

Can anyone conncet me with these men
AVM Dave Bamfield - Rtd Vice Chief of Defence Force
AVM Dave Hill - Rtd Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff
AVM Patrick Neville Rtd Chief of Air Staff - I had heard that Pat Neville lives in Taupo but I have not been able to find him - it may be that he lives in a retirement village
AVM Don Hamilton Rtd. Cheif of Air Staff

I would appreciate it if anyone can provide me with contact information on any of these men - email eddress, physical address or even a phone number
I have been working on putting together a biography of every senior (AVM and above) New Zealander who served withthe RNAZF, NZDF or the RAF

I now have photos of every man in this group which I could publish on the forum if anyone is interested

[11SQNLDR]

I would very much like to see this, sounds like a most interesting project!

Can you confirm MRAF Lord Elworthy was the only New Zealander to achieve 5 Star rank? I have not done much in the way of research but cannot recall hearing of any other New Zealander to attain this or the other service equivalent ranks (Admiral Of The Fleet or Field Marshal). Just curious!

I met the good MRAF at Omaka in 1985 at the Air Training Corps national flying camp where he presented my wings. He asked me to hold his SD hat when he went up for a couple of circuits in a Tiger, a well worn hat it was too with lashings of braid and more than 10,000 hours on it

[flyinghilly]

Thats correct Lord Sam Elworthy was the only NZer to acheive the rank of marshal of the RAF

In total 15 NZers acheived the rank of AVM or above in the RAF including
Marshal of the RAF Lord Sam Elworthy
ACM Sir Keith Park
AM Sir Arthur Coningham (he was Australian born ut came to NZ at the age of 6 and identified as a NZer all his life. His Nick name was "Mary" and one theory about why he was called this is that during WW2 his fellow pilots initially called him Maori and "Mary" was a corruption of that.
AM Sir Roderick Carr
AVM Curthbert Mclean
AM Sir Hector McGregor - he commanded a fighter Squadron in the BoB
ACM Sir Dennis Barnett
AM Sir Charles Broughton
AVM "digger" Magill
AM Sir Rockford Hughes
AVM Sir Alan Boxer
AVM Sir Charles Gibbs
AVM Bill Crawford-Compton - very high scoring WW2 fighter ace
AM Sir Ken Hayr
AM Sir Robert Clark-Hall - he is interesting because he was not a NZ. he rose to high rank in the Royal Navy during WW1 - he commanded the first Aircraft Carrier, the Ark Royal, at Gallipoli - he retired to NZ in 1935 and joined the RNZAF to "help out" in WW2 - he served in some very important roles and rose to the rank of Air Commodore in the Rank of AVM in the RAF

[errolmartyn]

Mar 27, 2020 18:25:14 GMT 12 flyinghilly said:

AM Sir Robert Clark-Hall - he is interesting because he was not a NZ. he rose to high rank in the Royal Navy during WW1 - he commanded the first Aircraft Carrier, the Ark Royal, at Gallipoli - he retired to NZ in 1935 and joined the RNZAF to "help out" in WW2 - he served in some very important roles and rose to the rank of Air Commodore in the Rank of AVM in the RAF.

Some small corrections re Clark-Hall: He retired in 1934 (11 Aug), not 1935, and as an Air Marshal, not an AVM. A most interesting man - served with the Royal Navy, Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force, and the RNZAF - started out as a cadet with the RN in 1887 then unbroken service until 1934, and of course served again from 1940 to 1945 with the RNZAF. C-H was closely involved with early aerial armament experiments from pre-WWI days.

Les Brake, ex-RNAS/RAF who also served with the RNZAF in WWII, once told me an amusing tale about C-H. While commanding RNZAF Station Harewood C-H was becoming a little peeved at the number of time hangar doors were not being closed at the end of the day's flying. Rather than post a missive on Routine Orders or yet again address the airmen on station directly, he proceeded unnoticed to collect some kindling and firewood, placed the material at the entrance of an open door hangar, lit the contents and retired from the scene. The small conflagration in due course caught the attention of the fire services . . . the message seemed to get through to those responsible for door closing. C-H made no comment about the incident, but there were no more instances of hangar doors being left open when they should not have been.

Errol

[sue03]

Dave Bamfield is in Blenheim.
Dave Hill is in Miramar Wellington.
Pat Neville more likely in Rotorua.
Don Hamilton Wellington