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Christopher John Pugsley (born 1947) is a New Zealand military historian. He is published as Chris Pugsley and Christopher Pugsley.


Career

Pugsley became interested in writing in 1984 when, as a career officer in the
New Zealand Army The New Zealand Army (, ) is the principal Army, land warfare force of New Zealand, a component of the New Zealand Defence Force alongside the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Formed in 1845, as the New Zealand Mil ...
, he worked on a television documentary about
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
's involvement in the Gallipoli campaign and authored ''Gallipoli: The New Zealand Story'', which was shortlisted for the Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Award the same year. In 1988, he retired from the New Zealand Army to dedicate himself to a new career as an historian.


Academic career

He received his PhD from the
University of Waikato The University of Waikato (), established in 1964, is a Public university, public research university located in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university performs research in nume ...
in 1992, and in 1994 he became writing fellow at the
Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...
. He then taught at
University of New England, Australia The University of New England (UNE) is a public university in New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1938, it was the first Australian university to be established outside of a state capital. Its main campus is located in the regional city of ...
from 1996 to 1999. Until 2014 he was senior lecturer in war studies at the
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...
and adjunct senior fellow at New Zealand's
University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...
.


Areas of interest

During the 1990s he wrote a series of detailed articles called "Walking the Waikato Wars", in the now defunct New Zealand Defence Quarterly, in which he visited each Waikato Battle site and reviewed each battle through the eyes of a modern professional military officer using photographs and maps to illustrate events. His primary area of interest is 20th-century New Zealand, Australian, Canadian and British Commonwealth military history, with particular focus on Gallipoli, and the Western Front.


Honours

In the
2015 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2015 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...
, Pugsley was appointed an
Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have r ...
, for services as a military historian. In 2011 the University of Waikato recognised him with a distinguished alumni award.


Publications

* Pugsley, C ''Le Quesnoy 1918: New Zealand's Last Battle'' (2018: Oratia Media) * Pugsley, C ''A Bloody Road Home: World War Two and New Zealand's Heroic Second Division'' (2014: Penguin) * Pugsley, C. & Holdsworth, A; ''Sandhurst: A Tradition of Leadership'' (2005: Third Millennium) * Pugsley, C. ''Operation Cobra (Battle Zone Normandy)'' (2004: Sutton) * Pugsley, C. ''From Emergency to Confrontation: The New Zealand Armed Forces in Malaya and Borneo 1949–1966'' (2003: OUP Australia and New Zealand) * Pugsley, C. ''The Anzac Experience: New Zealand, Australia and Empire in the First World War'' (2001: Reed New Zealand) * Pugsley, C. ''Anzac: The New Zealanders at Gallipoli'' (2000: Reed New Zealand) * Pugsley, C. & Moses, J. ''The German Empire and Britain's Pacific Dominions'' (2000: Regina) * Pugsley, C. ''The Anzacs at Gallipoli: A Story for Anzac Day'' (1999: Reed New Zealand) * Pugsley, C. ''Scars on the heart: Two centuries of New Zealand at war'' (1996: Auckland Museum) * Pugsley, C. ''Te Hokowhitu a Tu: the Maori Pioneer Battalion in the First World War'' (1995: Reed New Zealand) * Pugsley, C. ''On the Fringe of Hell'' (1991: Hodder & Stoughton) * Pugsley, C. ''Gallipoli: the New Zealand Story'' (1984: Hodder & Stoughton)


Notes and references


Further reading

* Pugsley, C. "With the Otago Mounted Rifles on the Western Front, Chapter 9: The Troopers Tale – The History of the Otago Mounted Rifles" (2012: Turnbull Ross Publishing)


External links


Victoria University, Writing Fellowship pages

Pugsley, biography: Royal Military Academy Sandhurst website

Pugsley, biography: New Zealand Book Council website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pugsley, Christopher Historians of World War I Historians of World War II Military historians 20th-century New Zealand historians Living people Academics of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst 1947 births Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit University of Waikato alumni 21st-century New Zealand historians 20th-century New Zealand military personnel New Zealand Army officers