Frederick Melrose Horowhenua Hanson

Brigadier Frederick Melrose Horowhenua Hanson (9 July 1895 – 15 July 1979) was a New Zealand soldier, engineer, military leader and public servant.

Born in 1895, Hanson joined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force during the First World War and served on the Western Front. By the end of the war he had reached the rank of sergeant and been awarded the Military Medal. During the interwar period, he was employed by the Public Works Department on hydroelectric projects and public roading. He later worked for the Main Highways Board. During the Second World War, he served with the 2nd New Zealand Division as a commander of an engineering field company. He later became the overall commander of the New Zealand Engineers of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force and served in Greece, Crete, North Africa and Italy. He received official recognition for his efforts in the war, receiving the Distinguished Service Order and bar and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Ending the war with the rank of brigadier, he returned to civilian life as the chief engineer of the Main Highways Board. He was later appointed the Commissioner of Works, the senior position at the Ministry of Works and responsible for 4,500 employees. Retiring from public service in 1961, he died in 1979 at the age of 84.

Early life Born in the town of Levin, in the Horowhenua District of New Zealand, on 9 July 1895, Frederick Melrose Horowhenua Hanson was the son of a farmer, also called Frederick Hanson, and his wife, Eliza Elizabeth Tantrum. He was educated locally and won a scholarship to Wellington College where he excelled both in his studies and sports. He participated in the school's cadet program and in 1914 was commissioned in the Territorial Force as a second lieutenant.

In 1915, Hanson passed the entrance examination for the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in Australia, which set aside a limited number of enrolments for New Zealanders. He duly entered Duntroon but misled authorities as to his age. Although academically successful, misconduct resulted in his expulsion from Duntroon in October 1917. He was also mentioned in dispatches for his services in the Middle East from May to October 1942. The following month, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for an action at Wadi Akarit in April 1943.

Later that year Hanson was made CRE for the entire 2NZEF. By this stage of the war, the 2nd New Zealand Division was participating in the Italian campaign. Hanson was largely responsible for the development of the river crossing techniques employed by the New Zealanders as they gradually advanced up Italy. He received a bar to his DSO for this work. After the war, he was discharged from the 2NZEF with the rank of brigadier.

Later life In 1946, Hanson returned to the Main Highways Board, this time as its chief engineer. He worked towards the implementation of legalisation that re-organised the Main Highways Board into the National Roads Board, and was appointed its first chairman.

In 1955, Hanson was appointed to the senior position at the Ministry of Works (formerly the Public Works Department), the Commissioner of Works, having spent the previous four years as Deputy Commissioner. His ministry, which employed almost 4,500 people, played an important role in the economic resurrection of New Zealand following the Second World War, with several major developments relating to hydroelectric schemes. He also served a term on the Army Board, from 1952 to 1955 and was president of the New Zealand Institution of Engineers for two years. He died on 15 July 1979. He was survived by his wife, Margaret Constance Grindley, who he had married in 1924. The couple had no children.