Air Vice Marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes u ...

Sir Arthur de Terrotte Nevill, (29 April 1899 – 14 March 1985) was a New Zealand military aviator and administrator.

Biography

The brother of Geoffrey, who would later become

Resident Commissioner of the Cook Islands The Resident Commissioner was the highest authority present in the Cook Islands between 1901 and 1965. The post was created on 11 June 1901 when New Zealand took over responsibility for the islands, replacing the British Resident, and was succeede ...

, Nevill attended the Royal Military College of Australia from 1916 until 1919 and was appointed a lieutenant in the

New Zealand Army , image = New Zealand Army Logo.png , image_size = 175px , caption = , start_date = , country = , branch = ...

in 1919 and held various staff and regimental appointments in New Zealand from 1921 until 1930 when he transferred to the

New Zealand Permanent Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeala ...

at its establishment on 1 April 1930. During that time he had been appointed as New Zealand Liaison Officer to the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

and he continued there until 1935. In 1937 he was appointed as Air Member for Supply to the Air Board of the newly organised

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeala ...

(RNZAF). As such he was responsible for all of the logistics activities of the RNZAF. As a result of this appointment he was then appointed in 1942 as Air Officer Commanding RNZAF Headquarters in

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until 1943. In 1944 he was returned to New Zealand and appointed Vice Chief of Air Staff, and then in 1946 to Chief of Air Staff until January 1951. During this period his administration coped with the RNZAF at its greatest establishment of manpower, that were being, or had been, employed in most war theatres from Europe to the western Pacific, and then through a period of demobilisation when airmen were employed on many ''make work'' tasks and flying was minimised to save money. During this period, too, there were so-called ''strikes'' when airmen and other servicemen and women throughout New Zealand used "refusing to cooperate with orders" tactics to get demobilised more quickly. Most of the aircraft employed by the air force were subject to

Lend Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

rules and were required to be returned to US control, or destroyed. Most were destroyed, some later than the extent of his administration. He also had to endure the effect of a home government that decided to support Britain (financially) by ordering a small fleet of pre-wartime and wartime designed aircraft, for example 100 Mosquitos, for which no useful service was contemplated. Only twelve ever flew in New Zealand and they were soon mothballed. However he was also responsible for the initiation of a series of orders for aircraft such as the

Vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

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, Type 170 Freighter and Hastings C Mk3 that were to see service well into the 1960s, and some beyond that.

Honours and awards

Nevill was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the

1941 New Year Honours The 1941 New Year Honours were appointments by King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on 31 December 1940.United Kingdom and Britis ...

. In the 1946 King's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

(CB). In the 1950 New Year Honours, he was promoted to

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

. In 1969, Nevill was appointed an Honorary Doctor of the University of Waikato.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nevill, Arthur De Terrotte 1899 births 1985 deaths New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire New Zealand Companions of the Order of the Bath Royal New Zealand Air Force air marshals New Zealand military personnel of World War II