5 March 1945(1945-03-05) (aged 49) near Cairns, Queensland
Buried
Cairns, Queensland
Allegiance
Australia
Service/branch
Australian Army
Years of service
1913–1945
Rank
Major General
Service number
VX9
Commands held
7th Division (1942–44) 6th Division (1942) Deputy Chief of the General Staff (1942) 19th Infantry Brigade (1941) 13th Field Battery (1916–17)
Battles/wars
First World War
Battle of Pozières
Battle of Messines
Battle of Passchendaele
German spring offensive
Hundred Days Offensive
Second World War
Battle of Greece
Battle of Crete
New Guinea campaign
Kokoda Track campaign
Salamaua-Lae campaign
Finisterre Range campaign
Awards
Companion of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order & Bar Mentioned in Despatches (4) Distinguished Service Cross (United States) War Cross (Greece)
Spouse(s)
Jessie Mary Halbert
(m. 1921)
Major General George Alan Vasey, CB, CBE, DSO & Bar (29 March 1895 – 5 March 1945) was an Australian Army officer. He rose to the rank of major general during the Second World War, before being killed in a plane crash near Cairns in 1945.
A professional soldier, Vasey graduated from Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1915 and served on the Western Front with the Australian Imperial Force, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and twice Mentioned in Despatches. For nearly twenty years, Vasey remained in the rank of major, serving on staff posts in Australia and with the Indian Army.
Shortly after the outbreak of Second World War in September 1939, Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Blamey appointed Vasey to the staff of the 6th Division. In March 1941, Vasey took command of 19th Infantry Brigade, which he led in the Battle of Greece and Battle of Crete. Returning to Australia in 1942, Vasey was promoted to major general and became Deputy Chief of the General Staff. In September 1942, he assumed command of the 7th Division, fighting the Japanese in the Kokoda Track campaign and the Battle of Buna-Gona. In 1943, he embarked on his second campaign in New Guinea, leading the 7th Division in the Landing at Nadzab and the subsequent Finisterre Range campaign.
By mid-1944, his health had deteriorated to the extent that he was evacuated to Australia, and for a time was not expected to live. By early 1945 he had recovered sufficiently to be appointed to command the 6th Division. While flying to assume this new command, the RAAF Lockheed Hudson aircraft he was travelling in crashed into the sea, killing all on board.
Major General GeorgeAlanVasey, CB, CBE, DSO & Bar (29 March 1895 – 5 March 1945) was an Australian Army officer. He rose to the rank of major general...
American botanist GeorgeAlanVasey (1895–1945), Australian soldier; husband of Jessie Vasey Gladys Vasey (1889–1981), English artist Jessie Vasey (1897–1966)...
the Vasey family. On 17 May 1921, she married Marjorie's brother, GeorgeAlanVasey, an Australian Army major at St Matthew's Church of England, Glenroy...
03:30 but failed because of German daylight air support. (Brigadier GeorgeAlanVasey and Lieutenant-Colonel William Cremor have criticised Freyberg for...
sitcom that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England, originally based on Bacup, Lancashire...
award aroused resentment, because while some, like Eichelberger and GeorgeAlanVasey, had fought in the field, others, like Sutherland and Willoughby,...
Cunningham, Loyalist militia commander in South Carolina "Bloody George" – GeorgeAlanVasey, Second World War Australian general "Bluey" – Keith Truscott...
Staff (DCGS), Major General GeorgeAlanVasey, which moved to nearby St Lucia. Major General Frank Berryman replaced Vasey as DCGS in September 1942, and...
George Wootten's 9th Division would land east of Lae in a shore-to-shore operation and advance on Lae. Meanwhile, Major General GeorgeAlanVasey's 7th...
Lae. With the Australian 7th Division, commanded by Major General GeorgeAlanVasey, arriving soon afterward, Lae would be captured on September 16. U...
Berryman and Major General GeorgeAlanVasey, Blamey placed Vasey's 7th Division directly under Morshead's command. Vasey soon chafed under Morshead's...
PMF officers, Colonel Sydney Rowell as GSO1 and Lieutenant Colonel GeorgeAlanVasey as AA&QMG. In February 1940, the War Cabinet decided to form a second...
crash in Kępa, Pomeranian Voivodeship. Died: Rupert Downes, 60, and GeorgeAlanVasey, 49, Australian generals (plane crash near Cairns); Albert Richards...
William Bridgeford, Cyril Clowes, Horace Robertson, Sydney Rowell and GeorgeAlanVasey. These officers had fought in World War I and reached the rank of...
General Sydney Rowell CBE 1 September 1941 April 1942 Major General GeorgeAlanVasey CBE, DSO & Bar April 1942 September 1942 Major General Frank Berryman...
were Douglas Gracey, Colin Gubbins, Henry Lowrie Davies, along with GeorgeAlanVasey of the Australian Army and E. L. M. Burns of the Canadian Army, all...
Assistant Adjutant General and Quartermaster General (AA&QMG), Colonel GeorgeAlanVasey said "This is a Q war". Captured Italian vehicles and fuel were used...
did not consult with Allen. He also sent a message to Major General GeorgeAlanVasey, Deputy Chief of General Staff, informing him of Potts' removal. He...
the college include Field Marshal Thomas Blamey and Major-General GeorgeAlanVasey. There were over 600 Australians living in Pakistan as of late 2001...
Kleidi area where the 19th Infantry Brigade (now under Brigadier GeorgeAlanVasey) attempted to make a stand against the advancing German Army. Dougherty...
enjoyed by regular officers like Frank Berryman, Horace Robertson, or GeorgeAlanVasey, who had been majors in the AIF but remained at that rank for nearly...
be appointed Commander in Chief, Herring, along with Major General GeorgeAlanVasey and Brigadier Clive Steele, approached Army Minister Frank Forde with...
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