Ian Hamilton Burrows

Army career In 1955 he was selected to deploy to Malaya as a troop commander with the newly formed New Zealand Special Air Service Squadron. On 27 April 1955, Burrows led a patrol, which after two days tracking, located a communist jungle camp. The patrol conducted a dawn assault against the camp, killing the occupants, which included Malaysian Communist leader Li Hak Chi. On 17 October 1955, Burrows led a patrol, which after an arduous ten-hour move through thick jungle and over steep terrain, mounted an immediate attack which killed a terrorist. For these two actions he was awarded the Military Cross and the Negri Sembilan Conspicuous Gallantry Medal from Malaysia.

Following his return to New Zealand, he served as aide-de-camp to Governor General, Lord Cobham, before spending two years as adjutant of the Nelson Marlborough West Coast Regiment. In 1963, Burrows deployed to Borneo, serving as a company commander during the Indonesian confrontation. Upon his return to New Zealand in 1965, Burrows commanded the NZSAS Squadron, before moving on to staff appointments in Wellington. From 1970 to 1973 Burrows served as the Defence Liaison Officer based in Kuala Lumpur, before returning home to be appointed as Commandant of Army Schools. He went on to command the 3rd Task Force Region, in Christchurch, before being promoted to brigadier. He was appointed commander, Land Forces New Zealand between 1981 and 1983 and commander, New Zealand Forces South East Asia, Singapore from 1983 to 1985, before his final appointment of Commander of Land Forces New Zealand in 1985. He retired from the army in 1985.

Also in 1957, he received the Negri Sembilan Conspicuous Gallantry Medal (Pingat Keberanian Chemriang):

In the 1979 Queen's Birthday Honours, Burrows was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Military Division).