Owen Mead

Major General Owen Herbert Mead CBE, DSO (24 January 1892 – 25 July 1942) was an officer in the New Zealand Military Forces who served during the First and Second World Wars.

Born in 1892, Mead joined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force following the outbreak of the First World War. He participated in the Gallipoli Campaign and served on the Western Front. After the war he joined the New Zealand Staff Corps and held a number of staff positions in the military. During the Second World War he commanded the Pacific Section of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force, which was responsible for the defence of Fiji. He went missing, presumed killed, on 25 July 1942, when the aircraft he was a passenger in was lost at sea while en route to Tonga. He was the highest ranked New Zealand soldier to lose his life while on active service during the war.

Early life
Owen Mead was born in Dunedin, New Zealand on 24 January 1892. After completing his education at Marlborough High School, he joined the Territorial Force in 1911. Upon the outbreak of the First World War, Mead volunteered for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) which was being raised for service overseas.

First World War
Commissioned as a lieutenant Mead was assigned to the 2nd Company of the Canterbury Battalion and served during the Gallipoli Campaign as the battalion's provost marshal. He also served on the Western Front, and was mentioned in dispatches for his leadership of his company during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette in September 1916. In October 1917 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and given command of 1st Battalion, Canterbury Regiment, which he led during the latter stages of Battle of Passchendaele. For his services during this battle, and the Spring Offensive in March 1918, he was appointed to the Distinguished Service Order. He finished the war as commander of the training battalion for the Canterbury Regiment and was again mentioned in dispatches.

Interwar period
Mead's service with the NZEF ceased in 1920 but he chose to remain in the military, and subsequently joined the New Zealand Staff Corps. He attended the Staff College in Camberley, England, from 1927 to 1928. After completing his courses, he returned to New Zealand, where he held a number of staff positions, which included the area officer for Palmerston North and the brigade major of the 3rd Infantry Brigade, a Territorial Force formation. In 1936, he was promoted to colonel and appointed adjutant general of the New Zealand Military Forces for a two year term.

Second World War
Mead was a brigadier and in command of the Northern Military District at the start of the Second World War. Not selected for a brigade command in the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2NZEF), he was instead reappointed for a second term as adjutant general. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 11 July 1940. From October 1940, he commanded the Southern Military District.

In March 1942, Mead was promoted to major general and made commander of the Pacific Section, 2NZEF, replacing its former commander, Major General W. H. Cunningham. Mead's new command consisted of two brigades, the 8th and 14th Infantry Brigades, which at the time were responsible for the defence of Fiji. His new role also entailed his appointment to the Executive Council of the Colony of Fiji.

In July 1942, the American 37th Division relieved the New Zealand forces in Fiji and assumed responsibility for the defence of the island. The bulk of the two New Zealand brigades began returning to New Zealand that same month. Mead stayed in Fiji to observe the American preparations for the Guadalcanal landings before leaving on 25 July in a Royal New Zealand Air Force Hudson aircraft for a final inspection trip to Tonga. The Hudson went missing en route. Despite extensive searches, no wreckage or trace of any survivors were found and it was presumed to have been lost at sea. Mead's date of death is recorded as 25 July 1942 and he is memorialised on the New Zealand War Memorial at Bourail, New Caledonia. He was the highest-ranking officer of the New Zealand Military Forces to be killed on active service.