WW2 N.Z Air Force buttons- Stokes & Sons Melbourne and J.R. Gaunt Montreal.

Three Royal New Zealand Air Force King’s Crown Buttons - WWII Period - Stokes & Sons Melbourne and J.R. Gaunt Montreal
An interesting trio of RNZAF gilt brass buttons dating from the Second World War, each bearing the standard pattern of “NZ” flanking a King’s Crown above a flying eagle with outstretched wings. Two large tunic buttons of approximately 24mm and one smaller cap button complete the set.
What makes this group particularly worth noting is the geography of the makers. The two large buttons are backmarked STOKES & SONS MELBOURNE, the well-known Australian button and badge manufacturer who produced large quantities of insignia for Commonwealth forces during both World Wars. The smaller cap button is marked J.R. GAUNT MONTREAL, the Canadian branch of the famous London firm J.R. Gaunt & Son.
The presence of Australian and Canadian-made buttons on RNZAF uniforms reflects the realities of the wartime Empire. When war broke out in September 1939, the RNZAF had only 756 full-time personnel and was utterly reliant on the wider Commonwealth war effort. Thousands of New Zealand airmen were channelled into the Empire Air Training Scheme (also known as the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan), with the bulk completing their training in Canada before being posted to RAF squadrons in Europe and the Mediterranean. At peak strength by 1944 the RNZAF numbered around 42,000 personnel, with substantial detachments stationed in Canada, in the Pacific alongside US forces, and across all RAF theatres.
With New Zealand’s own manufacturing capacity limited and the country geographically remote, it made perfect sense for RNZAF uniforms and insignia to be produced wherever recruits found themselves kitted out. Australian-made Stokes & Sons buttons would have been a natural choice for Kiwis training or transiting through Australian depots, while Gaunt Montreal supplied the very large RNZAF contingent training under the Empire Air Training Scheme in Canada.
The King’s Crown (Tudor Crown) used on all three buttons confirms a pre-1953 dating, consistent with WWII manufacture. The eagle on the New Zealand pattern is sometimes described as a Haast eagle, distinguishing it from the Australian wedge-tailed eagle on RAAF buttons and the Canadian golden eagle on RCAF buttons.