Date of birth:

October 16th, 1895 (Wellington, New Zealand)

Date of death:

November 28th, 1980 (Auckland, New Zealand)

Service number:

NZ1075

Nationality:

New Zealander

Keith Logan Caldwell was born October 16th, 1895, the son of David Robert Caldwell and Mary Dunlop Caldwell (McKerrow).
After graduating from school he went to work as a bank employee and joined the Territorial Army of New Zealand in 1914.
He was declared unfit to join the New Zealand Expeditionary Force destined for Gallipoli and he subsequently decided to join the Air Force. In October 1915 he enrolled in the New Zealand Flying School. Later on he was allocated to the British Air Corps.
During World War One, Caldwell was awarded an MiD (April 9th, 1917), the Military Cross (September 17th, 1917), two DFCs (December 3rd, 1918, January 1st, 1919), and the Belgian Croix de Guerre (July 16th, 1919). In this war he scored 25 victories in the air (21 by himself and 4 shared).
He returned to New Zealand after the war. After having worked for his father for a year, hje bought a farm in Glen Murray. May 16th, 1923, he married Dorothy Helen Gordon. The couple had two daughters and two sons. He continued flying with the Auckland Aero Club and was in command of the Territorial Division of the New Zealand Permanent Air Force. In 1935 he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.
At the beginning of World War Two, Caldwell served as Station Commander Woodbourne and later Wigram. In 1944 he was stationed in India and in England in 1945.
After World War Two he served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force until 1956 when he went back to farming. He retired in 1970 and died November 28th, 1980.

Bevorderingen:
April 1916: 2nd Lieutenant;
July 17th, 1916: Flying Officer;
February 22nd, 1917: temporary Captain, Flight Commander;
July 1st, 1917: Lieutenant;
January 15, 1918: Temporary Major, Squadron Commander;
1945: Acting Air Commodore;
1946: Air Commodore.

Career:
?: King's College, Auckland;
Wanganui Collegiate School;
? - 1915: Bank of New Zealand;
?: New Zealand Territorial Infantry;
October 1915: New Zealand Flying School;
April 15th, 1916: Royal Flying Corps;
July 29th , 1916: No. 8 Squadron;
November 1916: No. 60 Squadron;
October 1917: Instructor;
April 1918: Commanding Officer No. 74 Squadron;
July 17th, 1919: Unemployment List RAF;
August 1919: Nieuw Zeeland;
June 14th, 1923 - August 16th, 1937: Territorial Air Force;
1930 - 1937: Commanding Officer Territorial Division New Zealand Permanent Air Force (from 1934 onwards the Royal New Zealand Air Force);
November 15th ,1939 - March 18, 1946: Royal New Zealand Air Force;
?: Station Commander Woodbourne;
?: Station Commander Wigram;
1944: India;
1945: England;
March 18th, 1946 - May 31st, 1956: RNZAF Reserves;
1956: Retired from the RNZAF.

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• Photo 1: New Zealand Air Force photo
• - Fifth Supplement to The London Gazette of 14th September 1917, Issue 30387 dated 17th September 1917
  - The Aerodrome, Aces of WW1
  - Wings over Cambridge