Major General Sir William Livingston Hatchwell Sinclair-Burgess, KBE, CB, CMG, DSO (18 February 1880 – 3 April 1964) was a senior officer in the New Zealand Military Forces.

During the war, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, mentioned in despatches six times and was one of only 14 personnel of the New Zealand Military Forces to receive the French Legion of Honour.

He initially served with the South Canterbury Mounted Rifles in Timaru and then in 1902 was transferred the New Zealand Regiment of Field Artillery Volunteers, based in Auckland.

[3] Promoted to lieutenant colonel in March 1916 and given command of the 3rd Australian Field Artillery Brigade, he served on the Western Front.

[1] Burgess particularly distinguished himself in action from July to September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme and was awarded the Croix de Officier of France's highest order, the Légion d’honneur (Legion of Honour) in May 1917.

[7] In 1917, Burgess was promoted to temporary brigadier general and appointed Commander, Royal Artillery of the 4th Australian Division.

Two years later, he became director of 'Military intelligence and training' for three months before being promoted to colonel and appointed Chief of the General Staff.

[1] Promoted to brigadier in 1928, Burgess became Commandant of the New Zealand Military Forces, a position now known as the Chief of Army, in 1931 for a four-year term.

The depression had resulted in New Zealand's compulsory military training scheme being abolished and the Territorial Force needed to be reorganised accordingly.

[3] Burgess, now a major general, also implemented a rearmament program in response to increased aggression by the Japanese Empire in China and made a number of recommendations to the New Zealand government.

Some recommendations, such as the purchase of aircraft (which led to the establishment of the Royal New Zealand Air Force) and artillery for harbour defences, were enacted.

Following the outbreak of the Second World War he offered his services to the New Zealand government but this was turned down despite the enthusiasm of Edward Puttick, the Chief of Staff at the time.