John Wilton (general)

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Sir John Wilton
Head-and-shoulders portrait of man with thin moustache and high forehead, wearing light-coloured military shirt
Colonel John Wilton in Morotai, September 1945
Nickname(s)"Happy Jack"; "Smiling John"; "Sir Jovial"
Born(1910-11-22)22 November 1910
Sydney
Died10 May 1981(1981-05-10) (aged 70)
Canberra
AllegianceAustralia
Service/branchAustralian Army
British Army
Years of service1927–1970
RankGeneral
Service number216 (NX12337) [1]
Commands held
Battles/warsWorld War II
Awards
Other workDiplomat

DSO (22 November 1910 – 10 May 1981) was a senior commander in the Australian Army. He served as Chief of the General Staff (CGS), the Army's professional head, from 1963 until 1966, and as Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (CCOSC), forerunner of the role of Australia's Chief of the Defence Force, from 1966 until 1970. His eight-year tenure as senior officer of first the Army and then the Australian military spanned almost the entire period of the nation's involvement in the Vietnam War
.

Born in

Commander of the Order of the British Empire and awarded the US Legion of Merit
for his performance in Korea.

Wilton was promoted to

general in September 1968, and retired from the military in November 1970. He served as Consul-General
in New York City from 1973 to 1975, and died in 1981, aged seventy.

Early career

John Wilton was born in

leaving certificate.[6] Considered by family to be a "loner", "a clear thinker", and a "quite, determined, achiever", he entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in February 1927, aged sixteen.[2][7] Early on he was subjected to the usual bastardisation handed out to younger cadets by seniors, but was not known to inflict the same treatment on juniors once he reached the senior class. Although somewhat aloof from his fellows, he did well in team sports such as rugby and hockey, as well as swimming and diving.[7] Second academically in his class of twelve, Wilton graduated from Duntroon on 9 December 1930.[8]

By 1930, the effects of the

Maymyo, near Mandalay.[12] According to biographer David Horner, Wilton's "first taste of excitement" was in April 1935, when he joined the hunt for a rogue tiger and shot the animal as it attacked and mauled one of his companions.[13] In November he saw operational service with his unit in skirmishes with local tribesmen in the Wa State of northern Burma, on the Chinese border.[7][14]

After eight months extended leave in 1936, and a posting to the Indian Army Ordnance Corps, Wilton briefly returned to Australia to marry Helen Marshall on 9 July 1938 at St. Andrew's Church in Summer Hill, New South Wales.[2][15] John had met Helen, then a nurse, on a double date in Sydney while he was in his last year at Duntroon; the couple had two sons and a daughter.[2][16] On the same trip home he was invited to transfer to the Australian military, and accepted.[7] Promoted to captain on 31 December 1938,[17] Wilton saw out his British service with a coastal battery in Karachi, and was commissioned into the Royal Australian Artillery on 26 May 1939.[2][7] His service with the British Army in India and Burma had afforded him regimental experience that he could never have gained in Australia, as well as an understanding of mountainous and tropical conditions that would benefit him in years to come.[8][18]

World War II

Seven men in military fatigues using radios and megaphones
Command post of the 12th Battery, 2/6th Field Regiment, during the Battle of Merdjayoun, June 1941

Wilton spent a year in coastal artillery posts at

mentioned in despatches for his service with the 7th Division.[25][26] He entered the Middle East Staff School at Haifa in January 1942, and graduated in May.[27]

Returning to Australia, Wilton became General Staff Officer Grade 1 in Major General Stanley Savige's 3rd Division in August 1942.[2] Savige later recalled that "I never had a more competent staff, nor such a co-operative team, than that staff after Wilton came along."[28] The 3rd Division was part of Lieutenant General Edmund Herring's II Corps. In October, Herring succeeded Lieutenant General Sydney Rowell as commander of New Guinea Force, and Savige became acting corps commander. With his attention focused on the corps, Savige relied on Wilton to supervise the training of the 3rd Division.[29] Wilton travelled to New Guinea in February 1943 to reconnoitre the terrain and begin plans for the division's forthcoming campaign in Salamaua.[2] He was attached to Kanga Force in Wau during March 1943, before its absorption by 3rd Division the following month.[30] Herring had ordered that the 3rd Division "threaten" Salamaua, and despite Wilton's attempts to clarify precisely what this meant, the order remained vague. Savige and Wilton interpreted it as meaning that the 3rd Division was to capture Salamaua, when in fact its main purpose in the campaign was to divert Japanese forces from Lae.[31] In any event, 3rd Division progressed steadily and by August it had to be ordered to slow down so that Lae could be attacked before Salamaua.[32] Wilton received much of the credit for 3rd Division's performance.[33] He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his "skill and ability in New Guinea" between July 1942 and April 1943, the citation being promulgated on 27 April 1944.[34][35]

In September 1943, following his service with 3rd Division, Wilton was posted to Washington, D.C. as General Staff Officer, Australian Military Mission; he spent November and December 1944 in Europe, observing the Allies' military organisation.

Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), promulgated on 6 March 1947.[37][38]

Post-war career

Rise to senior command

Wilton was still only a substantive captain at the end of hostilities, but was considered by the Military Board to be among those "promising officers who have forced their way to the top during the war" and hence to deserve retention of their wartime rank.

Thomas Daly on 25 March.[44]

Full-length portrait of five men in military uniforms
Brigadier Wilton (centre) commanding the 28th Commonwealth Brigade in Korea, flanked by Lieutenant Generals Sir Sydney Rowell (second left) and Henry Wells (second right), in 1953

The 28th was described in the

gazetted on 1 May 1956.[2][53]

After returning to Australia, Wilton was appointed Brigadier in Charge of Administration at

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in the 1964 New Year Honours.[65]

Chief of the General Staff

Following the lead of the US Army, in 1960 the Australian Army had replaced its former "triangular" divisional structure of three infantry battalions under a brigade headquarters, with a "pentropic" organisation consisting of five larger battalions without a brigade layer between division and battalion headquarters. This had the effect of reducing the total number of Australian battalions, while increasing their individual strength.[66] Wilton was unhappy with the pentropic structure, reasoning that the number of battalions, rather than their relative strength, was the overriding factor when considering potential overseas deployments. The US had in any event abandoned the system in June 1961. In October 1964, Wilton commissioned a review that ultimately recommended a return to the triangular formation.[59][67] In the meantime, as a response to the Indonesia–Malaysia Konfrontasi, the Australian government reintroduced conscription, which Wilton fought until convinced that the government was not going to improve pay and conditions sufficiently to attract by any other means the recruits needed to meet overseas commitments.[68] Wilton was keen to mitigate any prejudices the national servicemen might have against the regular soldiery, and vice versa; when he found a memo from an Army committee asserting that "it must be recognised that the NS man was likely to be a reluctant soldier", he wrote on it "This assumption not justified".[69] In February–March 1965, following a request from the Malaysian government, Australia despatched 1 Squadron, Special Air Service Regiment, and 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, to Borneo—a commitment Wilton felt able to recommend as a result of the recent decisions to increase the Army's personnel and battalion numbers.[70][71]

Military helicopter with main door open, over jungle
UH-1 Iroquois of No. 9 Squadron RAAF in Vietnam

By mid-1964, Australia had already sent a

US Army brigade, and Wilton was responsible for setting its operational parameters.[75] In August, he recommended to his opposite number in the RAAF, Air Marshal Alister Murdoch, the despatch of two UH-1 Iroquois helicopters to Vietnam. Wilton believed that both services would benefit from gaining familiarisation with air/ground operations in the region before any large-scale commitment of Australian forces. He was exasperated when Murdoch rejected the idea on resourcing grounds, despite the fact that two-thirds of the RAAF's UH-1 complement had been purchased for the express purpose of army cooperation. According to the official history of the post-war Air Force, when the Federal government deployed No. 9 Squadron and its UH-1s to Vietnam less than a year later, the unit was under-prepared for combat operations.[76][77]

Wilton supported the RAAF's request that the deputy commander of Australian Forces Vietnam be an

Phuoc Tuy Province, where they could function with a reasonable degree of independence.[2][79] He also approved Nui Dat, in the centre of the province forward of the major population areas, as the task force's main base, despite its distance from support units in Vung Tau and the extra effort required to defend it.[80] Wilton rejected a mobile role for the Australians that would have placed them under the control of a US division because, he believed, "their operations became a bit of a meat grinder" with "tremendous casualties".[81] On 19 May 1966, he took over from Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Scherger as Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (CCOSC), a position foreshadowing that of the modern Chief of the Defence Force.[82][83] He was succeeded as CGS by Lieutenant General Daly.[82] According to the official history, the timing of the CCOSC handover was "especially significant" as it "coincided with the change in Vietnam from an Army force which was responsible to the Chief of the General Staff to a combined force responsive to the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee. Wilton, therefore, carried through his responsibilities concerning the Vietnam commitment to his new appointment."[84]

Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee

Vietnam

Wilton accepted the

Ronald Hughes, when the latter was criticised at home for conducting "American style operations" outside the immediate vicinity of Phuoc Tuy, such as the set-piece battles of Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral in mid-1968.[88] Conflict continued to simmer between the Army and the RAAF regarding air support, and Wilton oversaw discussions between Daly and Murdoch that secured a separate Army air organisation, leading to the formation of the Australian Army Aviation Corps in July 1968.[89] On 22 August, the Federal government announced that Wilton would be promoted to general, effective 1 September, in recognition of his "outstanding contribution to the Commonwealth in his present appointment".[90] He was the first Australian officer to attain the rank since Blamey, twenty-seven years before.[91]

Tanks and military personnel
Centurion tanks of the Australian 1st Armoured Regiment at Vung Tau, South Vietnam, in 1968

US troop reductions in 1969 under President Richard Nixon's Vietnamization policy led to increasing demands for similar withdrawals of Australian troops. Wilton, Daly and other senior officers argued that the "balanced" nature of the Australian task force would be damaged by a piecemeal withdrawal and that the only valid form of reduction would be "one out, all out"; the government chose a phased withdrawal, pulling out one battalion in October 1970 and the other two in October and December 1971.[92][93] The divisive nature of the war caused conflict within Wilton's own family; all his children actively opposed it, and in September 1969 his son Robert publicly burnt his draft deferment notice outside Parliament House, Canberra, having earlier called upon students at the Australian National University not to register for national service. The Canberra Times ran an article on the Parliament House incident, complete with a photograph of Robert burning his notice. As Australia's senior soldier, Wilton refused to comment on the situation; Robert reported that he and his father respected one another's viewpoints, and relations within the family remained amicable.[94][95]

One of the most controversial aspects of Australia's conduct of the Vietnam War had been the employment of a barrier minefield around Phuoc Tuy from 1967 to 1969. Wilton maintained that the minefield was already under construction when he first learned of it, and that he considered the decision within the purview of the commander on the ground, Brigadier Stuart Graham. When confronted with the increasing casualties among Australian troops from mines evidently lifted from the area by the Viet Cong, he pointed out that the South Vietnamese, who had been expected to patrol the minefield, were not playing their part. Wilton further believed that the barrier minefield was an innovative solution to the problems facing the task force and that the commander's decision to implement it was "better than sitting on his backside and not trying anything". He rejected suggestions by critics that the minefield was "the biggest blunder" Australia made in Vietnam, declaring that this was "like being wise after the event".[96][97]

Joint defence aspirations

Informal portrait of three men in military uniforms
Lieutenant General Wilton as Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, with Group Captain Peter Raw (left) and Major General Kenneth MacKay (centre) at Vung Tau Airfield, South Vietnam, in 1966

Wilton's position as CCOSC had no statutory authority over the heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force, nor a direct line of command to Australian Forces Vietnam. David Horner noted that in an emergency, Wilton "had to issue directives and then seek retrospective endorsement of them by either the minister or the Chiefs of Staff Committee."[98] According to historian Eric Andrews, Wilton "chaffed over his lack of command over the services and the need for organisational reform".[99] While CGS, he had joined Scherger in calling for a single Australian Defence Force organisation with one Minister of Defence, in contrast to the existing arrangement where each service operated with virtual autonomy, supported by its own minister and department.[98][100] In July 1967, he became a member of the Tertiary Education (Services' Cadet Colleges) Committee to plan a tri-service military academy, which was eventually opened as the Australian Defence Force Academy in 1986.[101] He was also able to push through a plan to establish, in 1970, the Joint Intelligence Organisation to replace the former Joint Intelligence Bureau and three single-service intelligence groups.[98][102]

In 1967, and again in 1970, Wilton recommended the creation of a single Defence Board of Administration, consisting of the Defence Minister, the Defence Secretary, CCOSC, and the three service chiefs, to take over the functions of the Air, Military, and Naval Boards, along with those of their separate ministers. Though nothing came of this at the time,[103] Wilton was consulted by the Labor Party before it began reorganising the Defence Department soon after defeating the Liberals in the December 1972 Federal election.[104] The following year, the single-service ministries were abolished in favour of an all-encompassing Department of Defence; by 1984, the CCOSC position had evolved to become the Chief of the Defence Force, directly commanding all three armed services through their respective chiefs.[105]

Later life

Wilton was succeeded as CCOSC by Admiral Sir Victor Smith on 23 November 1970, and retired from the military.[2][83] He subsequently worked on the Kerr Committee that reviewed pay and conditions in the armed forces, visiting several overseas bases including Nui Dat and Vung Tau.[106] Wilton finished his career as a diplomat, serving as Australia's Consul-General in New York from September 1973 to November 1975.[2][107] In 1979 he became one of the first sponsors of the Aboriginal Treaty Committee, which advocated for a treaty between the Federal government and Aboriginal representatives. He died of prostate cancer at his home in Canberra on 10 May 1981, aged seventy.[2][108] Survived by his wife and children, Wilton was accorded a military funeral at Duntroon, in the Anzac Memorial Chapel he helped found, and cremated at Norwood Park Crematorium, Canberra.[109][110]

Legacy

Reflecting on Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, Wilton considered that it was justified, and that the West's intervention helped delay the takeover of South Vietnam, and the spread of communism to Laos and Cambodia, by almost a decade. "Whether that was worthwhile", he added, "is a matter for the historian to judge". The key lesson, he felt, was not to intervene in a conflict "unless you are prepared to win", because it was "not something that you can just put one foot in and feel the temperature".[111]

You can't have your three services fighting three separate wars ... It's as simple as that.

—General John Wilton on joint warfare [103]

Biographer David Horner described Wilton as "arguably the most important and influential Australian Army officer in the second half of the twentieth century".[91] Horner credited him with making significant contributions to the evolution of the Australian Defence Force through the pursuit of joint command and control.[112] He further noted that whereas Wilton's predecessor as CCOSC, Scherger, had been promoted to 4-star rank after four years in the role, and Wilton himself after two-and-a-half, Wilton's successors gained their 4-star rank upon taking up the position, indicating its growing importance.[113]

From an early age Wilton was considered cerebral and introspective; his colleagues in adulthood found him to have an incisive mind, high standards, and little inclination or capacity for small talk.[2][114] His serious demeanour earned him the ironic nicknames "Happy Jack", "Smiling John" and "Sir Jovial", though he was capable of thoughtful gestures and flashes of humour.[23][115] Major General Paul Cullen, the Citizen Military Forces member of the Military Board from 1964 to 1966, described Wilton as "very stiff, very regular, very formal—but a pleasant man".[116] Korean War historian Robert O'Neill contended that "One of the most remarkable aspects of his career was that he rose so far through a highly competitive profession without ever playing to the gallery."[8]

Notes

  1. ^ "Wilton, John Gordon Noel". Department of Veterans' Affairs. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Horner, David. "Sir John Gordon Noel Wilton (1910–1981)". Wilton, Sir John Gordon Noel (1910–1981). National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 28 April 2015. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  3. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 1–3
  4. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, p. 5
  5. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, p. 7
  6. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 8–10
  7. ^ a b c d e f McNeill, "General Sir John Wilton", pp. 318–319
  8. ^ a b c d e O'Neill, Robert (12 May 1981). "Wilton, quiet, courageous leader of men". The Age. p. 13. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  9. ^ "No. 33701". The London Gazette. 24 March 1931. p. 1988.
  10. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 27–28
  11. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 29, 33–35
  12. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 36–38
  13. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 39–40
  14. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 40–43
  15. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 45–49
  16. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, p. 20
  17. ^ "No. 34613". The London Gazette. 4 April 1939. p. 2256.
  18. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 36, 47
  19. ^ a b c d e McNeill, "General Sir John Wilton", pp. 319–321
  20. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 55–57
  21. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, p. 58
  22. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 60, 66–67
  23. ^ a b Dennis et al., Oxford Companion to Australian Military History, pp. 603–604
  24. ^ a b Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 69–70
  25. ^ "Award: Mention in Despatches". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  26. ^ "No. 35396". The London Gazette. 30 December 1941. p. 7358.
  27. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, p. 71
  28. ^ Keating, The Right Man for the Right Job, p. 87
  29. ^ Keating, The Right Man for the Right Job, pp. 86–89
  30. ^ Dexter, The New Guinea Offensives, p. 26 Archived 16 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  31. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, p. 96
  32. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, p. 111
  33. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 112–113
  34. ^ "Recommendation: Distinguished Service Order". Australian War Memorial. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  35. ^ "No. 36486". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 April 1944. p. 1927.
  36. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 122–125
  37. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, p. 127
  38. ^ "No. 37898". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 March 1947. pp. 1085–1086.
  39. ^ Grey, The Australian Army, p. 167
  40. ^ "Australian Military Forces". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. No. 200. 24 October 1946. p. 3000.
  41. ^ "Australian Military Forces". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. No. 26. 11 May 1950. p. 1073.
  42. ^ Dennis; Grey, Emergency and Confrontation, pp. 45–47
  43. ^ O'Neill, Strategy and Diplomacy, pp. 227–228
  44. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 143–149
  45. ^ O'Neill, Combat Operations, pp. 239–240
  46. ^ O'Neill, Combat Operations, pp. 220, 274–275
  47. ^ O'Neill, Combat Operations, p. 278
  48. ^ O'Neill, Combat Operations, p. 282
  49. ^ a b McNeill, "General Sir John Wilton", pp. 316–317
  50. ^ O'Neill, Combat Operations, p. 281
  51. ^ O'Neill, Combat Operations, pp. 588–590
  52. ^ "No. 40193". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 June 1954. p. 3307.
  53. ^ "No. 40766". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 May 1956. p. 2543.
  54. ^ a b McNeill, "General Sir John Wilton", p. 322
  55. ^ Moore, Duntroon, pp. 224–225
  56. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, p. 174
  57. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 171–173, 313
  58. ^ Moore, Duntroon, p. 265
  59. ^ a b c Grey, The Australian Army, p. 209
  60. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, p. 179
  61. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 183, 189, 191
  62. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, p. 193
  63. ^ "No. 42684". The London Gazette. 25 May 1962. p. 4343.
  64. ^ Dennis et al., Oxford Companion to Australian Military History, pp. 612–613
  65. ^ "No. 43201". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1963. p. 36.
  66. ^ Grey, The Australian Army, pp. 204–205
  67. ^ Dennis et al., Oxford Companion to Australian Military History, pp. 419–420
  68. ^ Grey, The Australian Army, pp. 209–210
  69. ^ McNeill, To Long Tan, p. 28
  70. ^ Dennis; Grey, Emergency and Confrontation, p. 237
  71. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, p. 232
  72. ^ Odgers, 100 Years of Australians at War, pp. 300–306
  73. ^ McNeill, To Long Tan, pp. 34–38
  74. ^ Odgers, 100 Years of Australians at War, pp. 310–312
  75. ^ McNeill, To Long Tan, pp. 98–99
  76. ^ Stephens, Going Solo, pp. 289–292, 483
  77. ^ Coulthard-Clark, The RAAF in Vietnam, p. 141
  78. ^ Coulthard-Clark, The RAAF in Vietnam, pp. 79–81, 83
  79. ^ McNeill, "General Sir John Wilton", p. 327
  80. ^ McNeill, To Long Tan, pp. 197–200
  81. ^ McNeill, To Long Tan, pp. 200–201
  82. ^ a b McNeill, "General Sir John Wilton", p. 328
  83. ^ a b "Chief of the Defence Force". Department of Defence. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  84. ^ McNeill, To Long Tan, p. 205
  85. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. XV, XIX, 279
  86. ^ a b McNeill; Ekins, On the Offensive, pp. 286–287
  87. ^ McNeill; Ekins, On the Offensive, pp. 246–249
  88. ^ McNeill; Ekins, On the Offensive, pp. 402, 410
  89. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 301–303
  90. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 289, 407
  91. ^ a b Horner, Strategic Command, p. XIV
  92. ^ Edwards, A Nation at War, pp. 202–204
  93. ^ Ekins; McNeill, Fighting to the Finish, pp. xxxv–xxxvi
  94. ^ Edwards, A Nation at War, pp. 212–213
  95. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, p. XX
  96. ^ McNeill; Ekins, On the Offensive, pp. 127–129
  97. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 328–330
  98. ^ a b c Horner, Making the Australian Defence Force, pp. 43–44
  99. ^ Andrews, The Department of Defence, p. 226
  100. ^ Andrews, The Department of Defence, p. 183
  101. ^ Moore, Duntroon, pp. 307, 325
  102. ^ Dennis et al., Oxford Companion to Australian Military History, p. 180
  103. ^ a b Andrews, The Department of Defence, p. 184
  104. ^ Andrews, The Department of Defence, pp. 196–197
  105. ^ Horner, "The Evolution of Australian Higher Command Arrangements", pp. 24–27
  106. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 361–362
  107. ^ Moore, Duntroon, p. 433
  108. ^ "John Wilton: general and diplomat". The Sydney Morning Herald. 11 May 1981. p. 8. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  109. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, p. 372
  110. ^ "Funeral service of General Sir John Wilton". The Canberra Times. 14 May 1981. p. 12. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  111. ^ Ekins; McNeill, Fighting to the Finish, p. 705
  112. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 373–375
  113. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 289, 357
  114. ^ McNeill, "General Sir John Wilton", p. 332
  115. ^ Horner, Strategic Command, pp. 173, 206, 350
  116. ^ Baker, Paul Cullen, p. 183

References

External links

Media related to John Wilton (general) at Wikimedia Commons


Military offices
Preceded by
Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Scherger
 Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee
1966–1970 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Lieutenant General Sir Reginald Pollard
 Chief of the General Staff
1963–1966 		Succeeded by
Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Daly
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
John Bates
 Australian Consul General in New York
1973–1975 		Succeeded by
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