Field Marshal Sir Thomas Albert Blamey (24 January 1884 – 27 May 1951) was an Australian general of the First and Second World Wars. He is the only Australian to attain the rank of field marshal.
Blamey joined the Australian Army as a regular soldier in 1906 and attended the Staff College at Quetta. During the First World War, he participated in the landing at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915, and served as a staff officer in the Gallipoli campaign, where he was mentioned in despatches for a daring raid behind enemy lines. He later served on the Western Front, where he distinguished himself in the planning for the Battle of Pozières. He rose to the rank of brigadier general. He served as chief of staff of the Australian Corps under Lieutenant General Sir John Monash, who credited him as a factor in the Corps' success in the Battle of Hamel, the Battle of Amiens and the Battle of the Hindenburg Line.
After the war, Blamey became the Deputy Chief of the General Staff, and was involved in the creation of the Royal Australian Air Force. He resigned from the regular Army in 1925 to become Chief Commissioner of the Victoria Police. Still, he remained in the Militia, rising to command the 3rd Division in 1931. As chief commissioner, Blamey set about dealing with the grievances that had led to the 1923 Victorian police strike, and implemented innovations such as police dogs and equipping vehicles with radios. His tenure as chief commissioner was marred by a scandal in which his police badge was found in a brothel, and a later attempt to cover up the shooting of a police officer led to his forced resignation in 1936.
During the Second World War, Blamey commanded the Second Australian Imperial Force and the I Corps in the Middle East. In the latter role, he commanded Australian and Commonwealth troops in the disastrous Battle of Greece. He attempted to protect Australian interests against British commanders who sought to disperse his forces. He was appointed deputy commander-in-chief of Middle East Command, and was promoted to general in 1941. In 1942, he returned to Australia as commander-in-chief of the Australian Military Forces and commander of Allied Land Forces in the South West Pacific Area under American General Douglas MacArthur. On the orders of MacArthur and Prime Minister John Curtin, he assumed personal command of New Guinea Force during the Kokoda Track campaign, and relieved Lieutenant General Sydney Rowell under controversial circumstances. He planned and carried out the significant and victorious Salamaua–Lae campaign but during the final campaigns of the war, he faced criticism of the Army's performance. He signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on behalf of Australia at Japan's ceremonial surrender in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945, and personally accepted the Japanese surrender on Morotai on 9 September.
Early life The seventh of ten children, Blamey was born on 24 January 1884 in Lake Albert, near Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. He was the son of Richard Blamey, a farmer who had emigrated from Cornwall at the age of 16 in 1862, and his Australian-born wife, Margaret (née Murray). After farming failures in Queensland and on the Murrumbidgee River near Wagga Wagga, his father Richard moved to a small property in Lake Albert, where he supplemented his farm income working as a drover and shearing overseer.
Blamey acquired the bush skills associated with his father's enterprises and became a sound horseman. He attended Wagga Wagga Superior Public School (now Wagga Wagga Public School), where he played Australian football, and was a keen member of the Army Cadet unit. He transferred to Wagga Wagga Grammar when he was 13, and was head cadet of its unit for two years.
Blamey began his working life in 1899 as a trainee school teacher at Lake Albert School. He transferred to South Wagga Public School in 1901, and in 1903 moved to Western Australia, where he taught for three years at Fremantle Boys' School. He coached the cadets' rifle shooting team to a win in the Western Australian Cup. He was raised in the Methodist faith and remained involved with his church. By early 1906, he was a lay preacher, and church leaders in Western Australia offered him an appointment as an associate minister in Carnarvon, Western Australia.
Early military career With the creation of the Cadet Instructional Staff of the Australian Military Forces, Blamey saw a new opportunity. He sat the exam and came third in Australia, but failed to secure an appointment as there were no vacancies in Western Australia. After correspondence with the military authorities, he persuaded the Deputy Assistant Adjutant General, Major Julius Bruche, that he should be given the option of taking up an appointment for one of the vacancies in another state. He was appointed to a position in Victoria with the rank of lieutenant, commencing duty in November 1906 with responsibility for school cadets in Victoria, and was confirmed in his rank and appointment the following 29 June.
In Melbourne, Blamey met Minnie Millard, the daughter of a Toorak stockbroker who was involved in the Methodist Church there. They were married at her home on 8 September 1909. His first child was born on 29 June 1910 and named Charles Middleton after a friend of Blamey's who had died in a shooting accident; but the boy was always called Dolf by his family. A second child, a boy named Thomas, was born four years later.
Blamey was promoted to captain on 1 December 1910, and became brigade major of the 12th Brigade Area. He then set his sights on attending staff college. There were two British staff colleges, at Camberley in England and Quetta in India, and from 1908, one position was set aside for the Australian Army each year. No Australian officers managed to pass the demanding entrance examinations, but this requirement was waived to allow them to attend. In 1911, Blamey became the first Australian officer to pass the entrance examination. He commenced his studies at Quetta in 1912, and performed very well, completing the course in December 1913.
The usual practice was for Australian staff college graduates to follow their training with a posting to a British Army or British Indian Army headquarters. He was initially attached to the 4th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps at Rawalpindi, and then the staff of the Kohat Brigade on the North-West Frontier. Finally, he was assigned to the General Staff at Army Headquarters at Shimal. In May 1914, he was sent to Britain for more training, while his family returned home to Australia. He visited Turkey (including the Dardanelles), Belgium, and the battlefields of the Franco-Prussian War en route. In England, he spent a brief time on attachment to the 4th Dragoon Guards at Tidworth before taking up duties on the staff of the Wessex Division, at that time entering its annual camp. On 1 July 1914, he was promoted to major.
First World War
Following the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Blamey was transferred to the War Office, where he worked in the Intelligence Branch preparing daily summaries for the King and the Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener. Fully trained staff officers were rare and valuable in the Australian Army, and while still in Britain, Blamey was appointed to the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) as general staff officer, Grade 3 (Intelligence), on the staff of Major General William Bridges's 1st Division. As such, he reported to the 1st Division's GSO1, Lieutenant Colonel Brudenell White. In November 1914 he sailed for Egypt with Colonel Harry Chauvel, to join the Australian contingent there. His appointment as GSO 3 was confirmed with effect from 10 December.
Gallipoli Along with Bridges, White, and other members of 1st Division headquarters, Blamey left the battleship in a trawler and landed on the beach at Anzac Cove at 07:20 on 25 April 1915. He was sent to evaluate the need for reinforcements by Colonel James McCay's 2nd Brigade on the 400 Plateau. He confirmed that they were needed, and the reinforcements were sent.
On the night of 13 May 1915, Blamey, in his capacity as 1st Division intelligence officer, led a patrol consisting of himself, Sergeant J. H. Will and Bombardier A. A. Orchard, behind the Turkish lines in an effort to locate the Olive Grove guns that had been harassing the beach. Near Pine Ridge, an enemy party of eight Turks approached; when one of them went to bayonet Orchard, Blamey shot the Turk with his revolver. In the action that followed, six Turks were killed. He withdrew his patrol back to the Australian lines without locating the guns. For this action, he was mentioned in despatches. Mentioned in Despatches.
Blamey was always interested in technical innovation, and was receptive to unorthodox ideas. He was instrumental in the adoption of the periscope rifle at Gallipoli, a device which he saw during an inspection of the front line. He arranged for the inventor, Lance Corporal W. C. B. Beech, to be seconded to division headquarters to develop the idea. Within a few days, the design was perfected and periscope rifles began to be used throughout the Australian trenches.
On 21 July 1915 Blamey was given a staff appointment as a general staff officer, Grade 2 (GSO2), Appointed General Staff Officer—2nd Grade. with the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel. and with effect from 2 August joined the staff of the newly formed 2nd Division in Egypt as its assistant adjutant and quartermaster general (AA&QMG) – the senior administrative officer of the division. Its commander, Major General James Gordon Legge, preferred to have an Australian colonel in this post as he felt that a British officer might not take such good care of the troops. The 2nd Division Headquarters embarked for Gallipoli on 29 August 1915, but Blamey was forced to remain in Egypt as he had just had an operation for haemorrhoids. He finally returned to Anzac on 25 October 1915, remaining for the rest of the campaign.
Western Front
After the Australian forces moved to the Western Front in 1916, Blamey returned to the 1st Division as GSO1 on 10 July. Appointed GSO1. At the Battle of Pozières, he developed the plan of attack which captured the town, for which he received another mention in despatches, Mentioned in Despatches. and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in the 1917 New Year Honours. New Year's Honours 1917. DSO.
He was considered a possible brigade commander, but he had never commanded a battalion, which was usually regarded as a prerequisite for brigade command. He was therefore appointed to command the 2nd Infantry Battalion on 3 December 1916. On 28 December, Blamey, as senior ranking battalion commander, took over as acting commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade. On 9 January 1917, he went on leave, handing over command to Lieutenant Colonel Iven Mackay. However, when General Headquarters (GHQ) BEF found out about this use of a staff college graduate, it reminded I ANZAC Corps that "it is inadvisable to release such officers for command of battalions unless they have proved to be unequal to their duties on staff".
Blamey therefore returned to 1st Division Headquarters. Lieutenant General Sir William Birdwood did, however, promote Blamey to full colonel, backdated to 1 December 1916, thereby making him technically senior to several recently promoted brigadier generals, that rank being only held temporarily. His division commander, Major General H. B. Walker, had Blamey mentioned in despatches for this period of battalion and brigade command, Mentioned in Despatches. Mentioned in Despatches. although the battalion had spent most of the time out of the line and there had been no significant engagements. Blamey was also acting commander of the 2nd Brigade during a rest period from 27 August to 4 September 1917.