Sidney Wallingford | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 12 July 1898 Hythe, Kent, England |
| Died | 25 July 1978 (aged 80) Opito Bay, New Zealand |
| Allegiance | New Zealand |
| Service | British Army (1916–1918) Royal Air Force (1918–1920; 1924–1929) Royal New Zealand Air Force (1929–1954) |
| Rank | Air Commodore |
| Commands | RNZAF Northern Group No. 1 (Islands) Group |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Companion of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Legion of Merit (United States) |
| Relations | Jesse Wallingford (father) |
Air Commodore Sidney Wallingford, CB, CBE (12 July 1898 – 25 July 1978) was a British-born New Zealand aviator and senior officer in the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) during the Second World War.
Born in Hythe, England, Wallingford's family moved to New Zealand in 1911. Working as a seaman after completing his schooling, he returned to England soon after the First World War began and joined the British Army. In 1918, he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, soon to become the Royal Air Force (RAF) and flew with No. 142 Squadron in the final weeks of the war. He remained in the RAF until 1920 when he returned to New Zealand. He was a policeman in Fiji for a time before rejoining the RAF in 1924. Five years later his service ended and he subsequently joined the New Zealand Permanent Air Force, the predecessor to the RNZAF.
During the early stages of the Second World War, he served in the United Kingdom at the Air Ministry before returning to New Zealand and proceeding to the South Pacific. A liaison officer with the United States forces in 1942, he later commanded No. 1 (Islands) Group, based in Vanuatu and responsible for all RNZAF units in the South Pacific. After the war, he held a series of administrative and staff posts in the RNZAF. Appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1951, he retired from the RNZAF three years later. He died in 1978, aged 80.