Lieutenant General Vernon Sturdee, GOC First Army c. 1945
Born
(1890-04-16)16 April 1890 Frankston, Victoria
Died
25 May 1966(1966-05-25) (aged 76) Heidelberg, Victoria
Allegiance
Australia
Service/branch
Australian Army
Years of service
1908–1950
Rank
Lieutenant General
Service number
NX35000
Commands held
First Army (1944–45) Chief of the General Staff (1940–42, 1946–50) 8th Division (1940) Eastern Command (1939–40) 2nd Military District (1939–40) 5th Divisional Engineers (1917–18) 4th Pioneer Battalion (1917) 8th Field Company (1915–16)
Battles/wars
First World War
Gallipoli Campaign
Western Front
Second World War
Dutch East Indies campaign
Aitape–Wewak campaign
New Britain campaign
Bougainville Campaign
Awards
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companion of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Mentioned in Despatches (3)
Relations
Sir Doveton Sturdee, 1st Baronet (uncle) Sir Charles Merrett (uncle)
Lieutenant General Sir Vernon Ashton Hobart Sturdee, KBE, CB, DSO (16 April 1890 – 25 May 1966) was an Australian Army commander who served two terms as Chief of the General Staff. A regular officer of the Royal Australian Engineers who joined the Militia in 1908, he was one of the original Anzacs during the First World War, participating in the landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. In the campaign that followed, he commanded the 5th Field Company, before going on to lead the 8th Field Company and the 4th Pioneer Battalion on the Western Front. In 1918 he was seconded to General Headquarters (GHQ) British Expeditionary Force as a staff officer.
Promotion was stagnant between the wars, and Sturdee remained at his wartime rank of lieutenant colonel until 1935. He served in a series of staff posts, and attended the Staff College at Quetta in British India and the Imperial Defence College in Britain. Like other regular officers, he had little faith in the government's "Singapore strategy", and warned that the Army would have to face an effective and well-equipped Japanese opponent.
Ranked colonel at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Sturdee was raised to lieutenant general in 1940 and became Chief of the General Staff. He proceeded to conduct a doomed defence of the islands to the north of Australia against the advancing Japanese forces. In 1942, he successfully advised the government to divert the Second Australian Imperial Force troops returning from the Middle East to Australia. He then became head of the Australian Military Mission to Washington, D.C., where he represented Australia before the Combined Chiefs of Staff. As commander of the First Army in New Guinea in 1944–45, Sturdee directed the fighting at Aitape, and on New Britain and Bougainville. He was charged with destroying the enemy when opportunity presented itself, but had to do so with limited resources, and without committing his troops to battles that were beyond their strength.
When the war ended, Sturdee took the surrender of Japanese forces in the Rabaul area. As one of the Army's most senior officers, he succeeded General Sir Thomas Blamey as Commander in Chief of the Australian Military Forces in December 1945. He became the Chief of the General Staff a second time in 1946, serving in the post until his retirement in 1950. During this term, he had to demobilise the wartime Army while fielding and supporting the Australian contingent of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan. He developed a structure for the post-war Army that included regular combat formations. As a result, the Australian Regular Army was formed, laying the foundations for the service as it exists today.
Lieutenant General Sir Vernon Ashton Hobart Sturdee, KBE, CB, DSO (16 April 1890 – 25 May 1966) was an Australian Army commander who served two terms as...
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Frederick Charles Doveton Sturdee, 1st Baronet GCB, KCMG, CVO (9 June 1859 – 7 May 1925) was a Royal Navy officer. After training...
General Sir Vernon Ashton Hobart Sturdee KBE, CB, DSO (16 April 1890 – 25 May 1966), his nephew Rear Admiral Arthur Rodney Barry Sturdee (1919–2009),...
main element of the army's headquarters moved under Lieutenant General VernonSturdee, to Lae, in the Australian territory of New Guinea, where it was tasked...
accepted by Brigadier J. R. Stevenson, who represented Lieutenant General VernonSturdee, the commander of the First Australian Army, aboard the warship HMAS...
accepted by Brigadier J. R. Stevenson, who represented Lieutenant General VernonSturdee, the commander of the First Australian Army, on board the warship HMAS...
Fox-Strangways and Brigadier J. R. Stevenson, who represented Lieutenant General VernonSturdee, the commander of the First Australian Army, on board the warship HMAS...
Mackay, Leslie Morshead, John Northcott, Sydney Rowell, Stanley Savige, VernonSturdee and Henry Wells. His body was cremated at the Fawkner Crematorium and...
regulars, Major Generals VernonSturdee and Henry Wynter to command the 8th and 9th Divisions, but Wynter became ill and Sturdee was appointed Chief of...
1939, the others being Frank Berryman, John Lavarack, Henry Wynter, VernonSturdee, Sydney Rowell and William Bridgeford. Frederick Shedden, later Secretary...
surgeon, winner of Military Cross Edward Smart – diplomat and general Sir VernonSturdee – Lieutenant-General and Chief of the General Staff Sir Roger Wheeler...
while the Chief of the Australian General Staff, Lieutenant General VernonSturdee, threatened to resign if his advice was ignored and the troops were...
filmmaker (d. 1960) April 16 Fred Root, English cricketer (d. 1954) VernonSturdee, Australian general (d. 1966) April 17 – Victor Chapman, French-American...
character. He wrote to the Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General VernonSturdee: Rowell has very great ability; is quick in decision and sound in judgement...
[545] Phillip Nigel Warrington Strong 1970 Primate of Australia [546] VernonSturdee 1951 Honours List [547] Reginald Swartz 1972 Minister for National Development...
On Chauvel's recommendation, Menzies appointed Lieutenant General VernonSturdee to the post. During the war, Chauvel's son Ian served as staff officer...
next most senior regular officers, all colonels, included men like VernonSturdee, Henry Wynter and John Northcott, all of whom had joined the Army before...
Global Information