of control'. Interwar period Transferred to the Unemployed List of the RAF on 17 July 1919, Caldwell returned to New Zealand in August 1919. After a year working for his father he bought a farm at Glen Murray in the Waikato. On 16 May 1923 he married Dorothy Helen Gordon, the sister of fellow flying ace Frederick Stanley Gordon, and had two daughters and two sons. Caldwell maintained his interest in aviation, being a founding member and first club captain of the Auckland Aero Club. In 1924, when the part-time New Zealand Air Force was formed alongside the New Zealand Permanent Air Force (PAF), Caldwell was the senior officer of the original 72 personnel, all of whom were ex-RAF pilots. The part-time force evolved into the Territorial Air Force (TAF) in 1930, and Caldwell, now holding the rank of wing commander, was its leader. His command consisted of four squadrons; two for army co-operation duties and two bomber units. However, the TAF lacked its own aircraft and relied on the PAF, soon to be renamed the Royal New Zealand Air Force, for equipment and groundcrew. In 1935, he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal. Second World War During the Second World War he served in the RNZAF, as station commander at Woodbourne near Blenheim and later Wigram at Christchurch, before being posted to India in 1944 and England in 1945, where he was promoted to acting Air Commodore, achieving full rank in 1946. Caldwell was made a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1945 New Year Honours. He was awarded a bar to his DFC, and in addition to his MC was twice mentioned in despatches and received the Croix de Guerre from Belgium. Later life Caldwell retired from the RNZAF in 1956 and took up farming in South Auckland. He retained an interest in military aviation and in 1960, along with Ronald Bannerman and Leonard Isitt, established the New Zealand 1914–1918 Airmen's Association. Members of the organisation met annually to reminiscence about their wartime experiences. Retiring to live in Auckland in 1970, he died of cancer there on 28 November 1980. Notes References External links NZ History Biography. TV3 Article, Video. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography Keith Logan "Grid" CALDWELL CBE, MC, DFC and Bar , ED, mid, Croix de Guerre (Belgium) Keith Caldwell 1895 births 1980 deaths British