The following is a list of notable New Zealand people associated with the military, including those who participated in warfare or saw active service in New Zealand.
(some served also in World War I)
The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps to form the Royal Air Force (RAF), the world's first independent air force.
Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-British air force-specific rank structure. Group captain has a NATO rank code of OF-5, meaning that it ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore, and is the equivalent of the rank of captain in the navy and of the rank of colonel in other services.
Major General Sir William George Gentry, was a professional soldier in the New Zealand Military Forces who served during the Second World War. He was Chief of the General Staff of the New Zealand Military Forces from 1952 to 1955.
No. 488 Squadron was the name given to two distinct Royal New Zealand Air Force squadrons during the Second World War. Both were formed under Article XV of the Empire Air Training Scheme and served under the operational command of the Royal Air Force.
Air Vice Marshal William Vernon Crawford-Compton, was a New Zealand flying ace of the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. He was officially credited with destroying at least 20 German aircraft.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Harry Broadhurst,, commonly known as Broady, was a senior Royal Air Force commander and flying ace of the Second World War.
Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham,, nicknamed "Maori", was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. During the First World War, he was at Gallipoli with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, was discharged in New Zealand as medically unfit for active service, and journeyed to Britain at his own expense to join the Royal Flying Corps, where he became a flying ace. Coningham was later a senior Royal Air Force commander during the Second World War, as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief 2nd Tactical Air Force and subsequently the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Flying Training Command.
Air Marshal Sir Hector Douglas McGregor, was a senior Royal Air Force commander.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh William Lumsden Saunders, was a South African aviator who rose through the ranks to become a senior Royal Air Force commander.
Air Commodore Keith Logan "Grid" Caldwell, was a New Zealand fighter ace of the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War who also rose to the rank of air commodore in the Royal New Zealand Air Force during the Second World War.
Air Marshal Sir George Jones, was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He rose from private soldier in World War I to air marshal in 1948, and served as Chief of the Air Staff from 1942 to 1952, the longest continuous tenure of any RAAF chief. Jones was a surprise appointee to the Air Force's top role, and his achievements in the position were coloured by a divisive relationship during World War II with his nominal subordinate, the head of RAAF Command, Air Vice-Marshal William Bostock.
Air Chief Marshal Mark Donald Binskin, is a former senior officer in the Royal Australian Air Force. He served as Chief of Air Force (2008–11), Vice Chief of the Defence Force (2011–14), and Chief of the Defence Force from June 2014 until his retirement in July 2018. In February 2020 he was appointed as a Commissioner and Chairman of the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements. He is the current chair of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority of Australia.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Douglas Claude Strathern Evill, was an Australian-born British Royal Naval Air Service pilot and squadron commander during the First World War. Serving in the Royal Air Force between the wars, he was a senior air commander during the Second World War.
Air Commodore Francis William Fellowes (Frank) Lukis, CBE was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). A veteran of World War I, he first saw combat as a soldier in the Australian Imperial Force at Gallipoli. In 1917, Lukis transferred to the Australian Flying Corps and flew with No. 1 Squadron in the Middle East, where he was twice mentioned in despatches. A member of the Australian Air Corps following the war, he transferred to the fledgling RAAF in 1921, and became the first commanding officer of the newly re-formed No. 3 Squadron at RAAF Station Richmond, New South Wales, in 1925.
Air Marshal Sir Peter Guy Wykeham, was a Royal Air Force fighter pilot and squadron commander, and a flying ace of the Second World War. He was credited with 14 and 3 shared aerial victories.
Lieutenant General Sir Leonard Whitmore Thornton, was a senior officer in the New Zealand Army.
Major-General William George Stevens, was a New Zealand military leader and administrator.
Air Vice-Marshal Cyril Eyton Kay,, known as Cyrus Kay, was a New Zealand aviator and military leader. Born in Auckland, Kay joined the Royal Air Force in 1926 for a five-year period of service, during which he attempted to break the record for the fastest flight from England to Australia. He remained in aviation in civilian life and was a participant in the MacRobertson Air Race of 1934.
Major General Sir John Evelyn Duigan, was an officer who served with the New Zealand Military Forces during the First and Second World Wars. He was Chief of the General Staff of the New Zealand Military Forces from 1937 to 1941.
Major General Sir Norman William McDonald Weir, was a professional soldier in the New Zealand Military Forces. He served during the First and Second World Wars, and was Chief of the General Staff of the New Zealand Military Forces from 1946 to 1949.
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