Background
Baxter was born on 19 August 1911 at Egmont Village.
Baxter was born on 19 August 1911 at Egmont Village.
Before the war, Baxter was a shepherd. He joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) in March 1940 and was a flight lieutenant. The citation for the 1942 award read:
On August 19th, 1942, he was observer in the leading aircraft of a formation which participated in the combined operations at Dieppe.
According to one of his navigators, he flew more bombing missions over Germany than any other New Zealand airman (and came back alive).
During one period of raids, he lost seven room mates in five days. One personal escape involved bending over to pick up a map, with a shot of flak shooting through the seat where he had been sitting only a moment before.
On the bombing of Germany, he stated it was something that had to be done to stop Hitler, but every time they were let go, he felt for "the poor blighters below". Baxter contested the 1946 by-election in the Raglan electorate for the Labour Party, but lost against Hallyburton Johnstone of the National Party.
Later in the same year, Baxter defeated Johnstone in the 1946 general election by just 13 votes.
Johnstone in turn defeated Baxter in 1949. Baxter later stood unsuccessfully for Raglan in the 1957 and 1960 elections. A notable characteristic of his parliamentary period was that he was respected as a man who never compromised his principles.
Baxter died in 1976.