John Vivian Scott: 19 November 1920-12 May 2014.

• Author: McGibbon, Ian
• Position: Obituary

With the passing of John Scott on 12 May, we have lost not only one of New Zealand's most distinguished former diplomats but also a notable NZIIA personality. He did much to bolster New Zealand's relations with important states in several key areas, not least East Asia, and its trade with the Middle East.

Although a Briton by birth--he began his life in Cambridge--John came to New Zealand as a two-year-old. He attended Christchurch Boys' High School, before moving to Timaru Boys' High School. In 1939 he enrolled at Victoria University College in Wellington, but war service interrupted his studies.

After enlisting in the army in 1940, John was transferred to the Royal New Zealand Navy late in 1941 and seconded to the Royal Navy. He served in the destroyer HMS Onslaught, which took part in Russian convoy protection, before being commissioned. Returning to New Zealand in 1943, he took part briefly in the South Pacific campaign. Back in the United Kingdom, he ended the war as first lieutenant of a motor torpedo boat involved in minesweeping tasks in the English Channel.

In 1946, following his return to New Zealand and demobilisation, John married Marguerite Cachemaille Boxer, the daughter of Hastings doctor and former RSA president Ernest Boxer. They would have three daughters. Marguerite had herself been in the navy during the war--she was one of a select group of WRENs tasked with ultra-secret intelligence work at an isolated base near Blenheim. This involved radio finger printing, a method of tracking Japanese submarines by analysing intercepted radio transmissions. Proud of his wife's service, John asked me later in life for help in ensuring that her memories of it were recorded for posterity.

Immediately after the war John had returned to Victoria University College to complete his law degree. After graduating in 1947, he was one of the impressive post-war group of graduates recruited by Alister McIntosh to staff the fledgling Department of External Affairs.

It was not long before John and Marguerite were serving overseas. They did stints in Canberra, New York and London. John then headed the department's Economic Division before achieving ambassadorial rank in 1965, when he was posted to Japan with cross-accreditation to the Republic of Korea as well. In 1968 he became New Zealand's permanent representative at United Nations in New York. In this capacity he played a key role in the negotiations leading to the establishment of diplomatic...