Should the postnominals be GC or AM? If he was exempted from the order, choosing to keep the AM but with the privileges of a GC, which set should be used?
It should be GC; when the AM was disestablished, the recipients were styled GC. This would apply to Ridling even though he kept the physical medal. Zawed (talk) 08:42, 5 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]
And I do realise it is a little inconsistent with the presentation of the name of cite 1! Although on the search page for that website it shows the GC as the postnom for Ridling. Zawed (talk) 08:50, 5 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"After studying at the University of Cambridge..." stipulate that this is after the war
Thoughts on adding his rank to his name in the lede? Not necessary, just noting that you've done it in past articles
It is my understanding that ranks in combination with the name in the lede are really only used for senior officers. Zawed (talk) 08:42, 5 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"further promotion to sergeant major" that's a meteoric rise! is there any note on why/how he was promoted so quickly?
No, nothing that goes towards his character. I wonder if being a teacher gave him a bit of gravitas that was recognised by his superiors. Zawed (talk) 08:18, 6 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Assuming NZ forces used WO2/WO1, which was Ridling?
The source doesn't say. But if the Wikipedia article on NZ army ranks is right, he was probably a WO2 as I think he would have been a CSM. Zawed (talk) 08:18, 6 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]
"18th Reinforcements" is this an adhoc unit of no particular size, or can you stipulate company, battalion, etc?
This is an adhoc formation and is kind of an organisational construct used by the NZ military when sending its reinforcements for the NZEF. They would be dispatched in large groups or drafts, each of which were known as X Reinforcements. Once in Europe or the Middle East, the troops would then be sent to specific units. Zawed (talk) 09:11, 5 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@Zawed: Happy with your changes. My one final comment relates to the new UNESCO sentence; its addition means the next sentence beginning "By this time" has now had its timeframe changed completely. Ideally both the UNESCO event and his retirement would be dated. I've fixed one reference but think everything else looks good. Pickersgill-Cunliffe (talk) 15:01, 6 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]