New Wigram commander

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33264, 29 June 1973, Page 10

New Wigram commander

Group Captain D. M. Crooks will take command of the Royal New Zealand Air Force base at Wigram early in August. He will succeed Group Captain T. A. McL. Morgan, who will retire early next month after 31 years in the service.

Group Captain Crooks, of Rangiora, who joined the Air Force in 1951, is at present the commanding ollicer of the Operations Group, based at Auckland. He learnt to fly at Wigram, and between 1953 and 1955 served as a flying in--1 structor, first at Taieri, and 1 later on the staff of the Cen- > tral Flying School at Wig- • ram. ■ He was posted overseas ■ with No. 14 Squadron in ■ Singapore during the Malayan emergency. From 1963 ' to 1964. he was at Wigram, Has commander of the Flying . Training School. i From 1967 to 1970. Group Captain Crooks was head of the New Zealand defence liaison mission in Singapore. He returned to the country to take command of the Ohakea base in 1970, and two years later became commandin.", officer of the operations wing at the base. Group Captain Crooks was one of the New Zealand pilots who went to Britain to train on Canberra bomb-' ers before they were de-; 'livered to New Zealand. OUTWARD BOUND HEAD Group Captain Morgan,; who will retire from the Air] Force on July 13, was yesterday appointed the new executive director of Outward: i Bound. He said that he considered his new appointment a chai-i Henge, and he had no precon'reived ideas about how he! would direct Outward Bound. Group Captain Morgan, aged 50, has commanded the Wigram base since last year. 'Before that he was commandling officer of the ground 'training wing and senior air staff officer at the headquarters of the R.N.Z.A.F. Train!in o Group. i He joined the New Zeai land Army in 1941, but transferred to’ the Air Force in '1942. Recent appointments ; (included a period in London 'as senior air staff officer, and ! | several years as commandant •of the Command and Staff : ’College. Auckland. AIDE-DE-CAMP i He was an honorary’ aide- ‘ de-camp to Sir Willoughby Norrie and Sir Bernard Fer- ; gusson. During his career. Group (Captain Morgan has had a ; (long association with WigIrani. In 1942, he was a flying i

instructor at the Flying Training School. Three years later, he commanded the Initial Training School before he became commanding officer of the Ground Training Wing in 1970. For the three weeks from i Group Captain Morgan’s retirement until his successor arrives, Wing Commander G. iWallingford will act as the (base commander. z