BRIGADIER N. S. FALLA

Evening Star, Issue 25634, 7 November 1945, Page 6

BRIGADIER N. S. FALLA

DEATH ON THE WAY HOME BRILLIANT MILITARY AND BUSINESS CAREER A brilliant military and business career has been brought to a close with the death of Brigadier N. S. Falla, C.M.G., D. 5.0., V.D., news of whose passing while travelling from England on the steamer Port Philip, bound for Wellington, was received this morning by the Union Steam Ship Company, of which he was the chairman and managing director. For a long period l he was stationed at the head office of the Union Company when it was located in Dunedin, and in this city he«became well known in business, shipping, military, and sporting circles. Born at Westport on May 3, 1883, he joined the service of the Union Company in that town in 1898, and very shortly afterwards moved to the head office at Dunedin. Passing an examination as F.I.A.N.Z. in 1906, he was appointed travelling auditor of the company, and later assistant general traffic manager, which position he held at the outbreak of the war in 1914. He immediately volunteered for active

service, returning to New Zealand in 1919, when he was appointed general traffic manager. In 1931 he became New Zealand manager of the Federal Steam Navigation Company, and returned to the Union Company's service in 1934, when he was appointed general manager, with a seat on the board, and in the same year became managing director. In 1936 he was appointed chairman. . Brigadier Falla commenced his military career in the New Zealand forces at Dunedin in 1904, as a member of the old B Battery. He reached commissioned rank six years later, was promoted captain in 1913, and in November of the following year joined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force for service abroad. His career in the Army was a brilliant one. Within three months he had been promoted to major, taking part in operations with the New Zealand artillery at Gallipoli, and later on the western front. In May. 1916, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and in June, 1917, he was appointed to command the Third Brigade, New Zealand Artillery. For a short period at tsae end of the same year he commanded the New Zealand Divisional Artillery. In March, 1918, he was appointed to command the Second (Army) Brigade. During the 1914-18 war Brigadier Falla was awarded the C.M.G. and the D. 5.0., and was. three times men-' tioned in despatches. He was reappointed to the active list of the Territorial forces in 1920, and from, then until May, 1929, when he was transferred to the Reserve of Officers, held various imiportant commands. He was appointed an honorary aide-de-camp to His Excellency the GovernorGeneral in 1925. Upon the outbreak of the recent war Brigadier Falla offered his services, and was appointed Base Commandant of the New Zealand Overseas Base, and later went to England in an administrative capacity with the Second N.Z.E.F. He "was returning to New, Zealand when his death occurred on the steamer Port Philip. In 1908 Brigadier Falla was captain of the Otago Rowing Club, and took an active part in the sport of rowing. The flag at the Dunedin office of the Union Steam Ship Company was flown at half-mast in honour of his memory.