adjutant and quartermaster general of the 2nd New Zealand Division during the Battle of Greece. In the Battle of Crete he was acting general staff office (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 1942 New Year Honours appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) 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 GSO1 of the 2nd New Zealand 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: 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 (BCOF) 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 (now known as the Royal College of Defence Studies) in England. After completion of