Major-General Sir George Spafford Richardson, KBE, CB, CMG (14 November 1868 – 11 June 1938) was a senior officer in the New Zealand Military Forces.

He was in London at the time of the outbreak of the First World War and served in the Siege of Antwerp and the Gallipoli Campaign with the Royal Naval Division.

He was promoted to major the following year and returned to the United Kingdom in order to attend the Staff College in Camberley.

[2] Richardson was serving on the Imperial General Staff in London as New Zealand's representative, having taken over Colonel Alfred Robin in this capacity, when the First World War broke out.

[2] He helped in the formation of the Royal Naval Division and deployed to France in September 1914 as its chief of staff,[4] and then as assistant adjutant and quartermaster general with the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel.

[5] With the division, he served in the unsuccessful defence of Antwerp, and managed to avoid being taken prisoner of war when the city fell to the Germans.

[1] In recognition of his service at Gallipoli and Salonika, he was awarded the Croix de Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honour) in March 1916.

This included wounded personnel receiving medical treatment, nurses and doctors, as well as soldiers undergoing training before being transferred to the front.

The overall commander of the NZEF, Lieutenant General Alexander Godley, thought highly of Richardson's work and it was recognised in the June 1917 Birthday Honours with his appointment as a Companion of the Order of the Bath.

[2][10] Shortly after the cessation of hostilities Richardson was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1919 New Year Honours.

[2] He focussed on transforming the country's economy into one based upon agriculture with a long-term view of Samoan self-governance, and also implemented welfare and educational programs.

[15] However, over the next two years he had to deal with the increasing influence of the Mau movement, a nationalist group agitating for independence from New Zealand via peaceful means.

[2] He believed that the realm of politics was only suitable for Europeans, on account of it being "a simple matter to upset a Native race".

Richardson was forced to call in marines from the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy to deal with the civil unrest.