caption serviceyears laterwork branch death_place death_date birth_place allegiance awards battles birth_date rank image article_title name
portrait of william george stevens , 1943/44 1912 & ndash ; 1946 diplomat 20px new zealand military forces nelson , new zealand 7 august 1975 london , united kingdom new zealand new zealand companion the order of the british empire of the order of the bath commander of first world war 11 december 1893 major general mg w g stevens.jpg william george stevens
 william george stevens
william george stevens

major general william george stevens cb , cbe -lrb- 11 december 1893 -- 7 august 1975 -rrb- was a new zealand military leader and administrator .
a londoner by birth , stevens 's family emigrated to new zealand in 1895 .
he joined the new zealand military forces in 1912 and later served with the new zealand field artillery during the first world war .
between the wars he attended staff college in england and later held a number of positions which required co-ordination of civilian and military resources .
during the second world war he held important administrative roles in the 2nd new zealand expeditionary force -lrb- 2nzef -rrb- .
he was commander of the 2nzef from november 1945 to june 1946 and oversaw its demobilisation .
stevens retired from the military in 1946 with the rank of major general .
he became a diplomat , serving at the new zealand high commission in london for several years before his retirement in 1953 .
he later authored two volumes of the `` official history of new zealand in the second world war 1939 -- 45 '' .
he died in 1975 in nelson , new zealand .
