Aviation Head To Retire Today

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30480, 30 June 1964, Page 14

Aviation Head To Retire Today

Sir Arthur Nevill, the first man to have been the leader of both the military and civil division of New Zealand aviation, will retire today. He was knighted in T 950, near the end of his five-year term as Chief of Air Staff. Sir Arthur Nevill became Director of Civil Aviation on December 1, 1956.

Born in Dunedin and educated at Auckland Grammar School and Victoria University College, where he graduated B.Sc., he served on India's North-west Frontier in 1919-20 after his three years at the Royal Military College, Duntroon.

For the next 10 years he served in the Royal New Zealand Artillery and in 1930 transferred to the Air Force, as flight lieutenant and staff officer to the Director of Air Services, then Squadron Leader T. M. Wilkes. Later he was liaison officer at the Air Ministry, London, attended a Royal Air Force staff college course and returned to Wellington in 1936. In December. 1937, he was appointed to the New Zealand Air Board as Member for Supply, and in 1940, during the rapid war-time expansion of the R.N.Z.A F. he was promoted to group captain. In 1942 he became deputy Chief of Air Staff, and left for London as Aii Officer Com mandins R N Z.A F headquar ters in Britain. Returning to New Zealand at the end of 1943 he was appointed ViceChief of \ir Staff. In May, 1946, on the retirement of Air Vice-Marshal Sir Leonard Isitt, he became Chief of Air Staff, with the rank of Air Vice-Marshal. After h ! s retirement in 1951, Sir Arthur Nevill was temporarily a member of the Air Services Licensing Authority until his appointment

as Deputy Director of Civil Aviation in November, 1952. He became director in 1956. succeeding Mr E. A. Gibson. His serious off-duty interest has been science. In 1951, just 36 years after grad’tating as B.Sc ? he became a Master of Science. He is a member of the New Zealand University Grant Committee.

With Sir Arthur Nevill’s retirement the title of Director of Civil Aviation will disappear. His successor, WingCommander 1.. F. P. Taylor, will be Direcetor of Operations and Technical Services.