Enlisted in the New Zealand Army in December 1966 as the Regimental Medical Officer (RMO) for Waiouru. Posted to Terendak Garrison in Malaysia as the RMO in 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (1RNZIR), and then to Vietnam with the New Zealand Services Medical Team (NZSMT) in 1969–1970.
During the 1970s was Commanding Officer (CO) of the New Zealand Force Hospital in Singapore and did postgraduate study in the United Kingdom. Appointed director-general of Defence Force Medical Services in 1980 and an Honorary Surgeon to the Queen at the same time. Retired from the Army In December 1983. Became Medical Superintendent at Waikari and Dunedin hospitals.
Awarded the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1983 and the Order of St John Knight of Grace (KStJ) in 1990. Twice the Colonel Commandant 1992–1995 and 2005–2008 and ANZAC of the year in 2011.
Vietnam War Oral History Project interviewee. Interview and transcript held at the Alexander Turnbull Library Oral History Centre in Wellington, New Zealand. Reference: OHInt-0959-34
Disclaimer
The Vietnam List is an updated version of New Zealand's original Vietnam nominal roll – the Flinkenberg List – compiled by Captain Con Flinkenberg in 1972. Name, rank and unit information are from New Zealand military pay records. Read more about the Vietnam List.
