Christopher John Pugsley (born 1947) is a New Zealand military historian. He is published as Chris Pugsley and Christopher Pugsley.

Career

Pugsley became interested in writing in 1984 when, as a career officer in the

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

, he worked on a television documentary about

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

's involvement in the Gallipoli campaign and authored ''Gallipoli: The New Zealand Story'', which was shortlisted for the Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Award the same year. In 1988, he retired from the New Zealand Army to dedicate himself to a new career as an historian.

Academic career

He received his PhD from the

University of Waikato The University of Waikato ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato), is a Public university, public research university in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand established in 1964. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university perfo ...

in 1992, and in 1994 he became Writing Fellow at the

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

. He then taught at

University of New England, Australia The University of New England (UNE) is a public university in Australia with approximately 22,500 higher education students. Its original and main campus is located in the city of Armidale in northern central New South Wales. UNE was the first ...

from 1996 to 1999. Until 2014 he was Senior Lecturer in War Studies at the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town of ...

and Adjunct Senior Fellow at New Zealand's

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

Areas of interest

Coleman and Pugsley in Belgium 2012 Flickr 6819489341

During the 1990s he wrote a series of detailed articles called "Walking the Waikato Wars", in the now defunct New Zealand Defence Quarterly, in which he visited each Waikato Battle site and reviewed each battle through the eyes of a modern professional military officer using photographs and maps to illustrate events. His primary area of interest is 20th-century New Zealand, Australian, Canadian and British Commonwealth military history, with particular focus on Gallipoli, and the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

Honours

In the

2015 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2015 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

, Pugsley was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...

, for services as a military historian. In 2011 the University of Waikato recognised him with a distinguished alumni award.

Publications

* Pugsley, C ''Le Quesnoy 1918: New Zealand's Last Battle'' (2018: Oratia Media) * Pugsley, C ''A Bloody Road Home: World War Two and New Zealand's Heroic Second Division'' (2014: Penguin) * Pugsley, C. & Holdsworth, A; ''Sandhurst: A Tradition of Leadership'' (2005: Third Millennium) * Pugsley, C. ''Operation Cobra (Battle Zone Normandy)'' (2004: Sutton) * Pugsley, C. ''From Emergency to Confrontation: The New Zealand Armed Forces in Malaya and Borneo 1949–1966'' (2003: OUP Australia and New Zealand) * Pugsley, C. ''The Anzac Experience: New Zealand, Australia and Empire in the First World War'' (2001: Reed New Zealand) * Pugsley, C. ''Anzac: The New Zealanders at Gallipoli'' (2000: Reed New Zealand) * Pugsley, C. & Moses, J. ''The German Empire and Britain's Pacific Dominions'' (2000: Regina) * Pugsley, C. ''The Anzacs at Gallipoli: A Story for Anzac Day'' (1999: Reed New Zealand) * Pugsley, C. ''Scars on the heart: Two centuries of New Zealand at war'' (1996: Auckland Museum) * Pugsley, C. ''Te Hokowhitu a Tu: the Maori Pioneer Battalion in the First World War'' (1995: Reed New Zealand) * Pugsley, C. ''On the Fringe of Hell'' (1991: Hodder & Stoughton) * Pugsley, C. ''Gallipoli: the New Zealand Story'' (1984: Hodder & Stoughton)

Notes and references

External links

Victoria University, Writing Fellowship pages

Pugsley, biography: Royal Military Academy Sandhurst website

Pugsley, biography: New Zealand Book Council website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pugsley, Christopher Historians of World War I Historians of World War II Military historians 20th-century New Zealand historians Living people Academics of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst 1947 births Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit University of Waikato alumni 21st-century New Zealand historians