William Gentry

Early life

Gentry was born in London on 20 February 1899 to a leather salesman and his wife. When he was 11 years old, his family emigrated to New Zealand. Educated at Wellington College, he was one of the limited number of New Zealand entrants in 1916 who enrolled in the Royal Military College in Duntroon, Australia.

Military career

Graduating from the college in 1919 and posted to the New Zealand Staff Corps, Gentry was seconded to the British Indian Army for two years, serving on the North-West Frontier. On returning to New Zealand, he held a number of staff positions in the Central Military District and was promoted to captain in 1926. In 1934 he was sent to England on attachment to the Corps of Royal Engineers for 18 months and also attended engineering courses. He then served at General Headquarters in Wellington as staff officer, Engineers, before returning to England to attend the Staff College at Camberley, graduating in 1939.

Second World War

Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War, Gentry was promoted to major. He briefly served with the British Expeditionary Force in France before traveling to Egypt to join the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2NZEF). Promoted to lieutenant colonel, he served as assistant adjutant and quartermaster general of the 2nd New Zealand Division during the Battle of Greece. In the Battle of Crete he was acting GSO1 in the stead of Brigadier Keith Stewart, who was fulfilling an equivalent role with Creforce. Gentry performed his duties competently and was in the 1950 New Year Honours appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services during this time. He was also awarded the Greek Military Cross.

In October 1941, after the departure of Stewart to take up the position of Deputy Chief of Staff in New Zealand, Gentry became general staff officer (GSO1) of the division. In this role, he served under General Freyberg and developed a relationship where he could question Freyberg "without arousing impatience or irritation". He earned a Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his conduct during the First Battle of El Alamein. The citation for his award read:

Colonel Gentry was GSO 1 of 2 New Zealand Division in the battle of Alamein. He displayed conspicuous skill and organising ability in the field during the complicated mobile operations leading up to the stabilisation of the Alamein line and the hard fighting which immediately ensued. This officer during a period of great stress and often under heavy fire, displayed the greatest coolness, skill and determination which was an inspiration to all with whom he came in contact.

In September 1942, he was promoted to brigadier and appointed commander of the 6th Infantry Brigade, the previous commander having been made a prisoner of war. Despite having no experience in commanding infantry, he led the brigade well until August 1943, at which time he replaced Stewart as Deputy Chief of Staff to Lieutenant General Edward Puttick. He served in this role for nearly 18 months before rejoining the 2NZEF.

After a period in Egypt in command of New Zealand troops there, from February 1945 Gentry commanded the newly formed 9th Infantry Brigade. His new command included the Divisional Cavalry and Machine Gun Battalion, both of which had been converted to an infantry role and were joined by the 22nd Battalion. After a period of training, the brigade participated in the final stages of the Italian Campaign and Gentry was awarded a Bar to his DSO for his leadership of the brigade during this time. Command of his brigade was passed to Stewart on 10 November 1945 and he returned to New Zealand. He was discharged from the 2NZEF in March 1946.

Later life

After serving for a time with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the organisation responsible for the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan, Gentry had a second term as Deputy Chief of Staff, this time to Major General Norman Weir. In 1949 he attended the Imperial Defence College in England. After completion of his courses, Gentry returned to staff duties in New Zealand, serving as Adjutant General to Stewart, now Chief of Staff, and worked with him in preparing plans for the Government's commitment to deploy military forces to the Middle East in the event of hostilities with the Soviet Union. This work led to several clashes with the Government.

Promoted to major general, from 1952 to 1955 Gentry served as Chief of the General Staff of the New Zealand Military Forces. He represented New Zealand in ANZUS and was involved in planning for the defence of Southeast Asia. In 1954 he was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath and the following year retired from the military. In a break with convention he was not rewarded with a knighthood for his services. This may have been due to some ill-feeling within the Government regarding his work developing proposed plans for New Zealand's Middle East deployment. He was knighted three years later by the newly elected Labour Government in the 1958 Birthday Honours.

In his retirement Gentry had a strong relationship with the Boy Scouts Association and served as its New Zealand president from 1957 to 1967. He was awarded the association's Silver Wolf. He died on 13 October 1991 in Lower Hutt, where he had lived for many years, at the age of 92. His wife, whom he married in 1926, died in 1994.