The aviator’s draft complaint from 2005 referred to an earlier inquiry – one of two investigations into Davies that the Herald has now established took place – that also failed to find evidence of the relationship.
It stated: “Due to what appeared to me [to be] the sweeping [of the inappropriate relationship] under the carpet, I did not have any faith or confidence in the system.”
In an interview with the Herald, she said she believed her career had already been affected by concerns she had raised and she was worried worse could follow. “Could you put your neck out on the line when you speak up like that?”
The draft complaint emerged during Herald inquiries into 40 Squadron during the period in which Davies was commander of the unit responsible for the RNZAF’s Hercules and 757 aircraft.
The former aviator has told the Herald a copy will be made available to the office of the Inspector-General of Defence if it is sought.
Davies ended his 42-year military career when he resigned as Chief of Defence Force last month, exiting the New Zealand Defence Force a week later, saying he had made “errors of judgment” by conducting an inappropriate relationship while in a position of command.
The Herald has spoken to the woman with whom Davies was involved and she has confirmed the relationship.
Davies’ admission broke a 25-year silence that is now revealed as surviving two internal inquiries before he rose through the ranks to Chief of Air Force in 2016, Vice Chief of Defence Force in 2018 and Chief of Defence Force in June 2024.
His final appointment, managed through Public Service Commission processes, included vetting, personnel-file checks and references from subordinates, peers and former managers. His predecessor, retired Air Marshal Kevin Short, said candidates would have been asked about past conduct that could be compromising.
The NZDF has provided Inspector-General of Defence Timothy Brewer with proposed terms of reference for an investigation into the historical allegations.
Brewer told the Herald that – in line with the law the Inspector-General’s office operates under – he would consider the NZDF’s proposed terms of reference, and whether any changes were required to it, before deciding whether to proceed with a formal investigation.
The Public Service Commission is also carrying out a separate internal review of Davies’ appointment to find if there are further lessons to learn after changes to the appointment process that followed the scandal around screening Jevon McSkimming for the role of Deputy Commissioner of Police.
Davies has been approached for comment. A detailed list of questions relating to issues raised in this article have also been provided.
Davies’ lover targeted
Herald inquiries into Davies have revealed a divided 40 Squadron in the early to mid-2000s, during which his alleged affair with a woman in her early 20s – far below his Squadron Leader rank – was a constant point of friction.
Those inquiries have revealed the young woman became the butt of jokes and she was exposed to hostility and humiliation as a result of her relationship with Davies.
The draft complaint from 2005 sought to illustrate how the relationship was common knowledge by recounting a function at which Davies called on “the youngest member” of 40 Squadron to cut the cake.
That resulted in his subordinate being called forward, prompting a serviceman’s wife to say Davies had been cutting the young woman’s cake for some time.
The 2005 draft complaint described persistent gossip, the “cake” jibe at a squadron function and mocking comments about “the CO’s girlfriend” after the young woman appeared in an Air Force publication.
It also recorded discussion of photographs in which she was present being removed from a squadron noticeboard because of obscenities written on them.
In Darwin, the author said she saw the young woman crying alone in a hotel bar. The woman later said her tears were over the loss of a family member but also because she was upset that colleagues believed she was continuing a relationship with Davies.
She also recorded the woman’s tears in their shared room and another flight steward’s account of consoling the woman as she cried in a toilet during a party.
The draft complaint described a January 2005 argument between the woman and another flight steward, with obscenities exchanged in front of personnel.
In her interview with the Herald, the former aviator said the younger woman had a hard time. “She did, from some of us,” she said.
Evidence of relationship – claim
The former aviator said she struggled to understand how there was not sufficient evidence gathered of the relationship across two inquiries.
Her 2005 draft complaint detailed a series of incidents she said she personally witnessed, highlighting what she regarded as unusually familiar behaviour between the pair during various deployments in the early 2000s.
The apparent romantic contact and heavy drinking on nights before flying were factors in a squadron-wide divide between those who turned a blind eye and those who would not, the aviator told the Herald.
During overseas flights, she said Davies and the woman spent considerable time together, including near the flight deck, rather than the woman being with other flight stewards.
The 2005 written record also stated “it appeared that the crew rotations was being utilised to her advantage in order to rotate her near the flight deck”. The former aviator said it was her belief there would be records supporting her account, including log books and rosters showing Davies and his subordinate assigned offshore together more than other crew.
She said the alleged relationship created distance between the younger woman and her colleagues, including those who withheld information from her because they feared it would be passed to the commander.
The draft complaint also recorded specific sightings of Davies with the young woman in places and at times that the former aviator considered were inappropriate and highly unusual considering the difference in rank and responsibility.
The document identified a sergeant who, the former aviator wrote, had been told directly by the young woman that she had been having an affair with Davies, but that it had ended.
It also said there had been “persistent speculation and comments” for years in the squadron about the contact between Davies and his subordinate. The questions, the document said, extended to passengers on air force flights who asked “”what is going on between them”.
The speculation was fuelled by personnel seeing Davies and his subordinate in situations that didn’t relate to the gulf in responsibilities and rank.
Also, the former aviator said – and the Herald has confirmed – the woman was at one stage babysitter for the Davies’ family when he and his wife needed childcare.
The aviator said Davies – whose nickname was “TD” for his initials – was known among personnel as the “Golden Boy”, reflecting a widespread perception that he was destined for senior command and there was a perception his predicted career path meant complaints about his conduct would go nowhere.
A second investigation
The draft document referred to an earlier investigation into suspicions about Davies’ relationship with the junior airwoman. John Hamilton – who became Chief of Air Force in February 2002 – has told the Herald he ordered an investigation when he was in the role of Air Operations Commanding.
That inquiry happened before the command inquiry ordered by Short when he was 485 Wing commander – and also found no evidence to substantiate a relationship.
The former aviator told the Herald she was told of the outcome of the earlier inquiry in 2003 and believed no flight stewards were interviewed for it. “It makes a mockery of the system when it’s not dealt with and when it’s right under your noses.”
She said the alleged relationship continued to be widely discussed within 40 Squadron before the second inquiry in 2005-2006 ordered by former Chief of Defence Air Marshal Kevin Short.
In her draft complaint, she described raising concerns about the relationship during a separate investigation into bullying within the squadron’s flight steward section.
She wrote that she was told a formal complaint would be required before the allegations could be pursued, but believed that was unreasonable because personnel were fearful of speaking out against their commanding officer.
Speaking to the Herald, she said that 40 Squadron would always extend itself to achieve its mission but the divide in the squadron, a culture of heavy drinking and perceptions of its leadership shaped by Davies’ conduct were factors that made it more difficult to do so.
She said she continued to raise issues about the drinking culture on the squadron and the risk it posed to flight safety and Air Force reputation.
Her draft complaint described flight crew drinking heavily during overseas stopovers, including one incident in which she said a flight steward had been severely intoxicated the night before flying and was hungover and vomiting aboard the aircraft the following day. In another, a hungover pilot travelling as a passenger needed to have a drip administered by an NZSAS member.
There was also an occasion in which she exited her room into a hotel hallway and “vomit was up walls and other people’s room doors and all over the carpet outside the lifts”.
On one occasion, the former aviator’s draft complaint recorded that she had told an officer she would refuse to fly back to New Zealand on an aircraft on which the crew had been drinking with the intent of forcing an explanation as to why a crew member was left behind.
She said she was told by the officer: “It’s easy enough to have something spilt on the tarmac and that will give the crew time to sober up.”
Loss of faith
The draft complaint stated: “At this stage I lost any faith I had left in my Chain of Command and the system to do anything or take [the] issue seriously.”
By early 2005 the former aviator said she had been directed to another posting apparently because of a need to reduce numbers in the section she was in. The document disputed the justification she was given around required staffing levels and recorded her belief that challenging commanders could damage her flying career.
She told the Herald she believed her willingness to challenge perceived misconduct contributed to her removal from the squadron.
Having left Davies’ chain of command, she began preparing the formal complaint with dates, flight numbers, accounts of incidents she had witnessed and the names of personnel she believed could corroborate her concerns.
She said she recalled discussing the proposed complaint with a warrant officer in Wellington, who warned her about the consequences of challenging Davies.
“He said, ‘he’s not called the Golden Boy for no reason’,” she told the Herald.
Before she submitted the document, the investigation ordered by Short got underway, appointing a female wing commander to examine the allegations.
The former aviator said she supplied information about incidents she had recorded and believed investigators had grounds to pursue the allegations.
“I honestly believed that it would be dealt with and what the girls would say we would be believed,” she told the Herald. “So when it came back unfounded, I was really disappointed.”
She said the outcome convinced her that submitting her formal complaint would achieve nothing.
‘We didn’t have proof’
The former aviator said she encountered the officer who investigated Davies at an RSA some years later and confronted her.
She recalled asking: “I just want to know, for my own wellbeing and my own personal knowledge, I just want to know, did you believe us girls?” She said the officer replied: “Yes, I did. But we didn’t have the proof.”
The former aviator disputed that insufficient evidence was available, saying investigators could have examined flight records, questioned other personnel and tested accounts of the time Davies and the young woman spent together.
Another former 40 Squadron aviator spoken to by the Herald described how talk of Davies’ inappropriate relationship circulated in 40 Squadron as early as 2001-02 and raised concerns about favouritism, trust in commanders and the potential impact of speaking out.
The former aviator spoke of concerns among the squadron that Davies’ subordinate received preferential treatment that had consequences on the functioning of the unit. Such arrangements could undermine confidence in the fairness of crew assignments and career assessments, particularly when the commanding officer had influence over the personnel involved, she said.
“It affects the whole trust and the camaraderie and everything in that section.”
She did not identify a particular incident she personally witnessed that proved the relationship but recalled the suspicions circulating widely during her time at the squadron.
The former aviator said aside from the questions over a senior officer having an affair with a junior member of the squadron was the impact a relationship with a subordinate could have on perceptions of fairness and integrity of command.
A commander speaks
Hamilton, former Chief of Air Force, said he had ordered an investigation into Davies and an alleged relationship prior to that ordered by Short. He said he could not remember the year but it was prior to being made Chief of Air Force and being promoted to Air Vice Marshal in February 2002.
“It was about an inappropriate relationship at 40 Squadron. There was an incident or circumstances that demanded an inquiry be made. Apart from one person making a complaint, it failed to find evidence.”
He said he praised the women who had taken a recent stand and brought the matter to light but questioned why it had not happened earlier.
“I found it frustrating there are people on units that know something is going on but they haven’t been brave enough, willing – or perhaps without sufficient evidence – to take it up the chain.”
He said “there may well have been a perception” that careers would be impacted by doing so “but I can’t think of an incident where that has been the outcome”.
Hamilton said he believed that the culture that existed was one where concerns could be raised without fear and that they would be investigated with a focus on outcomes rather than negative impacts on those who spoke out.
He said it was understood how difficult it would be for someone of a much lower rank to raise issues but senior NCOs, such as warrant officers, should be available to help “push it uphill”.
“The frustration is that it doesn’t take place until it’s too late.”
Hamilton said a relationship such as that Davies was described as being in was “inappropriate” was because of the difference in rank between a senior commander and a junior service person. “The implication is that it affects morale and discipline.”
He said a court-martial could have compelled testimony because personnel would have been under oath.
However, he said it would have required evidence enough to lay a charge and it was also a factor that even a failed prosecution could be a mark on someone’s record.
On the behaviour that led to Davies’ high-profile resignation, he said: “It erodes public confidence in the service and that is hugely disappointing.”
Short also said the relationship would have been unacceptable under the standards prevailing at the time, well before the Defence Force introduced Operation Respect in 2016.
“In those days, it was still wrong,” he said, pointing to the imbalance of power between a commanding officer and a junior subordinate. Short acknowledged how difficult it would have been for the young woman to speak openly against her commander.
“Oh, yes, it would be. It would be very hard to do that.”
The NZDF has been asked for comment. It has said it has asked the Inspector General of Defence carry out an investigation into the resignation of Davies “and related matters”. It has said it will not respond until that has been decided, citing the section of the Official Information Act that allows information to be withheld if providing it would prejudice the maintenance of the law.
David Fisher is based in Northland and has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years, winning multiple journalism awards including being twice named Reporter of the Year and being selected as one of a small number of Wolfson Press Fellows to Wolfson College, Cambridge. He joined the Herald in 2004.
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