Ian Morrison (RNZAF officer)

Air Vice-Marshal Ian Gordon Morrison, (16 March 1914 – 5 September 1997) was a New Zealand aviator and military leader.

Ian Gordon Morrison was born in Hanmer Springs, in the South Island 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 Royal Air Force (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, 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.

In September 1938 he married Dorothy Franks at Winthorpe.

Born in Hanmer Springs, he briefly served in the Royal Air Force before transferring to the Royal New Zealand Air Force 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 Wellingtons.

In January 1939, Morrison resigned his commission in the RAF and subsequently joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF).

Later in the year he was sent to England to join other RNZAF personnel being trained on Vickers Wellington bombers.

The aircraft had been purchased by the New Zealand government for its air force and Morrison was part of the group preparing to ferry them back to New Zealand.

On the outbreak of the Second World War, Morrison became part of No. 75 Squadron, established around those RNZAF personnel.

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.

He later commanded No. 3 Squadron during the Solomons campaign.

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 Vildebeests.

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 Solomons campaign.

Based at Santo in Vanuatu, it was led by Air Commodore Wallingford with Morrison joining in April as his senior air staff officer.

Morrison was later promoted wing commander and appointed to command of No. 3 Squadron, which operated Lockheed Ventura bombers.

He served in this capacity from February 1944 to June 1945.

During this time, the squadron saw service at Santo, Guadalcanal, Bougainville, and Emirau before finishing its war at Green Island.

Morrison was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire 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 as Director of Organisation and Staff Duties, and then served as chairman of the planning executive.

In 1950 Morrison 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 in the 1957 New Year Honours.

The following year he attended the Imperial Defence College.

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.

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 role.

Appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1965, he retired the following year.

He died in 1997, aged 83.