Ronald Stuart Park

Brigadier Ronald Stuart Park (18 February 1895 – 15 August 1980) was a New Zealand military leader who served in the First and Second World Wars as well as the Korean War.

Born in Dunedin, Park joined the New Zealand Military Forces in 1914. During the First World War he served initially as an instructor at Featherston Military Camp before proceeding to England as a reinforcement for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. He served on the Western Front as an artillery officer. In peacetime he held a series of command and administrative posts, including a brief period as commander of the Royal New Zealand Artillery. During the Second World War, he was based in England as commander of the United Kingdom Section of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. He also represented New Zealand on military planning committees. After the war, he commanded the Northern Military District in New Zealand. He retired in July 1950 but was almost immediately recalled to duty as commander of Kayforce, the ground force component of New Zealand's contribution to the United Nations Command. He led Kayforce for nearly three years until November 1953 when he returned to New Zealand and civilian life. He died in 1980, aged 85.

Early life Ronald Stuart Park was born on 18 February 1895 at Dunedin in New Zealand. He was the son of a clerk, Samuel Park, and his wife, Annie and educated at Otago Boys' High School. He was a keen sportsman, playing cricket and rugby union to a high standard. In 1914, the year after finishing his schooling and desiring a military career, he joined the New Zealand Military Forces. He went as an officer cadet to the Australian Army's Royal Military College in Duntroon in the Australian Capital Territory.

First World War His cadetship, scheduled to run three years, was accelerated following the outbreak of the First World War, and he graduated in April 1916. He went back to New Zealand and was posted to the instructing staff at Featherston Military Camp.

In November the following year, Park went to England with the 32nd Reinforcements. After a period of service at the headquarters of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) in London, he proceeded to the Western Front in July 1918. Posted to the 9th Battery, 2nd New Zealand Field Artillery Brigade, he participated in the Hundred Days Offensive. By October he was attached to the headquarters of the New Zealand Division as a staff officer for the field artillery. For a period in 1937, he was commander of the Royal New Zealand Artillery. After the war, during the Paris Peace Conference that began in 1946, he was part of the New Zealand delegation as its military advisor. and later that year was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal. In November, his period in command of Kayforce ended and after a regimental parade in his honour, he returned to New Zealand.

Later life In civilian life Park worked as a transportation administrator in Auckland and from 1955 to 1960 was at the Auckland Harbour Ferry Service District. He was also honorary colonel commandant of the Royal New Zealand Artillery in the Northern Military District. His wife Ozgiene née de Senna, who he had married nearly 45 years earlier, died in January 1967. He married again at the end of the year. He died on 15 August 1980, survived by his second wife Anne. He had no children.