NEW CHIEF OF STAFF

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 August 1941, Page 6

NEW CHIEF OF STAFF

BRIGADIER-GENERAL PUTTICK • . NEW ZEALANDER WITH FINE RECORD. SERVICE IN TWO WARS. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. The appointment of BrigadierGeneral Edward Puttick, as Chief of the General Staff, in succession to Major-General Duigan, was announced today by the Minister for Defence, Mr F. Jones. “In appointing Brigadier-General Puttick,” said the Minister, “the Government has selected the most outstanding officer of the New Zealand regular forces, with an excellent record in two wars. He has filled a number of administrative army posts here in New Zealand and his training includes an Imperial Defence College course in London.” Mr Jones added that since leaving the Dominion, in command of the First Echelon, Brigadier-General Puttick had played a notable part in the building up of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force to its present high standard of quality and performance, and he had been spoken of in the highest terms by Major-General Frey berg, V.C. As the commander of the Fourth Brigade of the N.Z.E.F., he fought with distinction in the engagements on Mount Olympus, while the final rearguard action of the Fourth Brigade, near Marathon, had been described as an achievement worthy of the highest traditions of the British Army. When Major-General Freyberg was placed in temporary command of the Allied forces in Crete, Brigadier-General Puttick assumed temporary command of the Nev/ Zealand forces serving there. The Minister said Brigadier-Genera] Puttick’s experiences in Greece and Crete would be invaluable in bringing the training in New Zealand into line with the latest overseas needs and practice, and he was sure the appointment of the New Zealand officer would be popular, both in military circles and With the public. Brigadier-General Puttick will leave for New Zealand almost immediately.

Brigadier-General Puttick saw considerable service in the last war. He was an officer of the Samoan expedition in 1914 and latex- was a lieutenantcolonel commanding the third and fourth battalions of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. He saw active service, in Egypt and in France. In 1917 he was severely wounded. Subsequent to the last war, he has held various army appointments in New Zealand, including commandant of a special expedition to Fiji during Indian riots there in 1920. In 1939 he was officer commanding the Central Military District, Wellington.