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 ...

Ian Gordon Morrison (16 March 1914 – 5 September 1997) was a New Zealand aviator and military leader. Born in

Hanmer Springs Hanmer Springs is a small town in the Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand. The Māori name for Hanmer Springs is Te Whakatakanga o te Ngārahu o te ahi a Tamatea, which means “where the ashes of Tamate’s (sic) fire lay� ...

, he briefly served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

before transferring to the

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 ...

in 1939. During the early stages of the Second World War, he was a bomber pilot with No. 75 Squadron, which was formed mostly with New Zealand personnel and operated

Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is its g ...

s. He returned to New Zealand in 1940 for instructing duties and then was a staff officer with the RNZAF's No. 1 Islands Group, based in

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

. He later commanded No. 3 Squadron during the

Solomons campaign The Solomon Islands campaign was a major campaign of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign began with Japanese landings and occupation of several areas in the British Solomon Islands and Bougainville, in the Territory of New Guinea, ...

. After the war, he held a series of staff posts before becoming Chief of Air Staff of the RNZAF in 1962. In this capacity he replaced much of the air force's dated equipment and sought to improve its strike capacity. 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 ...

in 1965, he retired the following year. He died in 1997, aged 83.

Early life

Ian Gordon Morrison was born in

, in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

of New Zealand on 16 March 1914, the only son of W. G. Morrison and his wife. The town was the site of the Queen Mary Hospital which, during the First World War, was a facility for the treatment of wounded soldiers. Seeing these wounded war veterans in his childhood, Morrison resolved to never join the army. Instead, he desired a career in the

(RAF). After completing his schooling, he worked in the forestry industry to earn the money for the trip to England. During this time he learnt to fly, gaining his pilot's licence at the Canterbury Aero Club. When Morrison arrived in London, his application to join the RAF was declined on the grounds of a weak heart. A subsequent attempt to join the RAF was more successful, and he was accepted for a short service commission in March 1936 on probation, and this was confirmed, along with his rank of

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

, on 6 January 1937. In July the following year he was promoted to flying officer and was posted to No. 44 Squadron, based at

RAF Waddington Royal Air Force Waddington otherwise known as RAF Waddington is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located beside the village of Waddington, south of Lincoln, Lincolnshire in England. The station is the RAF's Intelligence Surveillance Target ...

. In September 1938 he married Dorothy at Winthorpe.

Second World War

In January 1939, Morrison resigned his commission in the RAF and subsequently joined the

(RNZAF). Later in the year he was sent to England to join other RNZAF personnel being trained on

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

s. The aircraft had been purchased by the

New Zealand government , background_color = #012169 , image = New Zealand Government wordmark.svg , image_size=250px , date_established = , country = New Zealand , leader_title = Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern , appointed = Governor-General , main_organ = , ...

for its air force and Morrison was part of the group preparing to ferry them back to New Zealand. Stevenson, Wallingford and Morrison

On the outbreak of the Second World War, he became part of No. 75 Squadron, established around those RNZAF personnel. He went on fly operationally with the squadron until his return to New Zealand in 1940, take up a position as an instructor. A navigation specialist, he taught at the School of General Reconnaissance and was highly regarded for his work. He was promoted to squadron leader in February 1942 and six months later was appointed commander of No. 8 Squadron, which flew

Vickers Vildebeest The Vickers Vildebeest and the similar Vickers Vincent were two very large two- to three-seat single-engined British biplanes designed and built by Vickers and used as light bombers, torpedo bombers and in army cooperation roles. First flown i ...

s. Early the following year, the RNZAF established the No. 1 Islands Group to co-ordinate the administration of the increasing numbers of units being sent to the Pacific theatre of operations to participate in the

. Based at Santo in

, it was led by Air Commodore Wallingford with Morrison joining in April as his senior air staff officer. Morrison was later promoted

wing commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

and appointed to command of No. 3 Squadron, which operated

Lockheed Ventura The Lockheed Ventura is a twin-engine medium bomber and patrol bomber of World War II. The Ventura first entered combat in Europe as a bomber with the RAF in late 1942. Designated PV-1 by the United States Navy (US Navy), it entered combat in 1 ...

bombers. He served in this capacity from February 1944 to June 1945. During this time, the squadron saw service at Santo,

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...

, Bougainville, and

Emirau Emirau Island, also called Emira, is an island in the Bismarck Archipelago located at . It is currently part of the New Ireland Province of Papua New Guinea. The local language is a dialect of the Mussau-Emira language. Emira is part of what on ...

before finishing its war at Green Island.

Postwar

Morrison was appointed an

Officer 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 1946 War Honours, in recognition of his war service in the Pacific. He served in a number of staff roles in the postwar period; from June 1946, he was an honorary aide-de-camp to the Governor-General of New Zealand for nearly a year, in 1947, he was based at the Air Department in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

as Director of Organisation and Staff Duties, and then served as chairman of the planning executive. In 1950 he went to the United Kingdom to attend the Joint Services Staff College followed by a two-year period of exchange duty with the RAF. He then commanded Ohakea air base for a time. From October 1954 he served on the Air Board, being responsible for supply. He was appointed an

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 1957 New Year Honours. The following year he attended the Imperial Defence College.

Chief of Air Staff

Morrison was appointed Chief of Air Staff (CAS) in July 1962. At the time, the RNZAF was in decline, operating dated equipment and the New Zealand government more focussed on its

army co-operation In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movement ...

role. He set about improving the strike capability of the RNZAF in response to the threat posed by communism. During his tenure he oversaw the introduction of American aircraft into service with the RNZAF, including the

Lockheed P-3 Orion The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner.1965 New Year Honours, he was made a

. He retired in June 1966, the morale of the RNZAF considerably improved despite his failure to modernise its strike wing. Four years later a fleet of

Douglas A-4 Skyhawk The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a single-seat subsonic carrier-capable light attack aircraft developed for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps in the early 1950s. The delta-winged, single turbojet engined Skyhawk was designed a ...

s entered service with the RNZAF, improving its offensive capabilities.

Later life

In 1967, Morrison was appointed deputy chief scout and national president of the Scout Association of New Zealand. In 1977, he was awarded New Zealand scouting's highest honour, the Silver Tui. Also in 1977, he received the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal. Morrison died on 5 September 1997. He was cremated and his ashes were interred at North Shore Memorial Park. He was the father of broadcaster

Judy Bailey Judy Ann Bailey (born ) is a former news presenter for ONE News, the highest rated evening television news programme in New Zealand. Bailey joined the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (now Television New Zealand) in 1971 and worked as a re ...

Notes

References

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