David Crooks (RNZAF officer) explained

David Crooks
Birth Date:	8 December 1931
Birth Place:	Rangiora, New Zealand^[1]
Death Place:	Wellington, New Zealand
Allegiance:	New Zealand
Branch:	Royal New Zealand Air Force
Serviceyears:	c.1950–1987
Rank:	Air Marshal
Servicenumber:	C300083
Commands:	Chief of the Defence Staff Chief of the Air Staff
Awards:	Companion of the Order of the Bath Officer of the Order of the British Empire

Air Marshal David Manson Crooks, (8 December 1931 – 9 March 2022) was a senior commander of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. He was Chief of the Air Staff from April 1983 to October 1986 and Chief of the Defence Staff thereafter until 1987 when he retired.^[2]

Crooks was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1969 Queen's Birthday Honours, and a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1985 New Year Honours.

Crooks retired from the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1987. In retirement he served on the board of the RNZAF Museum Trust.^[3] He died in Wellington on 9 March 2022, at the age of 90.^[4]

Notes and References

1. Book: Taylor . Alister . Coddington . Deborah . Alister Taylor . Deborah Coddington . Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand . 1994 . New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa . Auckland . 0-908578-34-2 . 111–112.
2. Book: McGibbon . I.C. . The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Military History . 2000 . Oxford University Press . 0195583760 . 129.
3. Web site: An Unofficial Guide to the Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum . 10 January 2023.
4. News: Former Defence Force chief Air Marshal David Crooks dies aged 90 . Joanne . Naish . 11 March 2022 . . 11 March 2022.