Major General George Alan Vasey, (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.
Early life George Alan Vasey was born in Malvern East, Victoria on 29 March 1895, the third of six children of George Brinsden Vasey, a barrister and solicitor, and his wife Alice Isabel, née McCutcheon.Horner, General Vasey's War, p. 4 Because his father was also George Vasey, George Alan Vasey's family always called him Alan.Clark, No Mean Destiny, p. 8 He was educated at Camberwell Grammar School and Wesley College, Melbourne, where his schoolmates included Robert Menzies and Edward James Milford. At Wesley, Vasey served in the Australian Army Cadets, in which he became a second lieutenant.Horner, General Vasey's War, pp. 8–9
In 1913, he entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon in Canberra. Of 33 members of his class, in which Vasey graduated tenth, nine died in the Great War. Six later became generals: Leslie Beavis, Frank Horton Berryman, William Bridgeford, John Chapman, Edward James Milford and Vasey himself. The war, which began in August 1914, caused his class to be graduated early, in June 1915.Horner, General Vasey's War, pp. 9–10
First World War Vasey was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Permanent Military Forces (regular army), and joined the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). He was posted to the 2nd Division Artillery, and sailed for Egypt in December 1915. The 2nd Division moved to France in March 1916, where Vasey was promoted to captain in August, and given command of the 13th Field Battery in November.Horner, General Vasey's War, pp. 10–13
In February 1917 Vasey was posted to Brigadier General James Cannan's 11th Infantry Brigade as a trainee staff captain. Vasey became brigade major of the 11th Infantry Brigade in August 1917, General Cannan having formed a high opinion of him. The brigade, part of Major General John Monash's 3rd Division, was involved in heavy fighting at Messines and Passchendaele,Horner, General Vasey's War, pp. 10–18 for which Vasey was promoted to major in September 1917 and awarded the Distinguished Service Order. His recommendation read:
In July 1918 Vasey was assigned to 3rd Division Headquarters as a staff officer (GSO3) but this appointment was brief; his successor at the 11th Infantry Brigade was wounded and Vasey returned to his former post. As such, he participated in the defence of Amiens, the Battle of Amiens in August 1918 and the attack on the Hindenburg Line in September.Horner, General Vasey's War, pp. 15–19 He was also twice Mentioned in Despatches. He served for a time as GSO2 of the 3rd Division before embarking for Australia on 14 September 1919.Horner, General Vasey's War, pp. 19–20
Between the wars Vasey returned to the PMF, in which he held the substantive rank of lieutenant and the honorary rank of major. He became so discouraged at his prospects with the Army that, studying at night, he qualified as an accountant.Horner, General Vasey's War, pp. 22–23 He married Jessie Mary Halbert at St Matthew's Church of England, Glenroy, Victoria on 17 May 1921. They bought a house in Kew, Victoria with a War Service Loan.Clark, No Mean Destiny, p. 11
Vasey held a series of staff postings in Australia and India. From 1928 to 1929 he attended the Staff College at Quetta, India,Horner, General Vasey's War, p. 23 where Bernard Montgomery was an instructor.Clark, No Mean Destiny, p. 12 In October 1934 he was appointed as a brigade major once more. Following a brief stint as a GSO2 on the headquarters of the 1st Indian Division, his final posting in India was again as a brigade major, from April 1936 to March 1937. By November 1934 his substantive rank was that of captain, but while he held the brevet and local rank of major, he was not promoted to the substantive rank of major until 1 March 1935.Horner, General Vasey's War, p. 29 Vasey was finally promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel on 12 May 1937, after nearly 20 years as a major, although he was only promoted to the substantive rank on 2 November 1939.Horner, General Vasey's War, p. 32 This was not unusual, and it fostered a sense of injustice and frustration among regular officers, who found themselves outranked by CMF officers who had enjoyed faster promotion.Long, To Benghazi, p. 45
Second World War Middle East and Greece Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Blamey appointed Vasey to the 6th Division as his Assistant Adjutant General and Quartermaster General (AA&QMG), the senior logistics staff officer of the division. He received the Second AIF serial number VX9.Long, To Benghazi, p. 50 Vasey embarked for Palestine as commander of the advance party of the division in December 1939.Long, To Benghazi, p. 68
Gavin Long noted that Vasey was "highly strung, thrustful, hard working... concealed a deeply emotional even sentimental nature behind a mask of laconic and blunt speech. Although he was appointed to head the administrative staff there burned within him a desire to lead Australian troops as a commander." Nonetheless, Vasey remained AA&QMG during the Battle of Bardia.Horner, General Vasey's War, pp. 79–81 Following the capture of Tobruk in January 1941, he replaced Frank Berryman as GSO1.Horner, General Vasey's War, p. 81
In March 1941, Vasey was promoted to temporary brigadier and took command of the 6th Division's 19th Infantry Brigade following the departure of Horace Robertson to Australia on medical grounds.Horner, General Vasey's War, pp. 87–88 He led it in Greece, suffering a defeat at the Battle of Vevi.Long, The Six Years War, pp. 66–74 Vasey's instructions to his men were couched in typical Vasey terms: "Here you bloody well are and here you bloody well stay. And if any bloody German gets between your post and the next, turn your bloody bren around and shoot him up the arse."Dennis, Grey, Morris and Prior, The Oxford Companion to Australian History, p. 607 The 19th Infantry Brigade was evacuated to Crete, where it fought in the Battle of Crete.Long, The Six Years War, pp. 80–87 Vasey was commended for his work in Crete and was among the last to be evacuated to Egypt, but some 3,000 Australians were taken prisoner.Long, Greece, Crete and Syria, p. 316 Although it was a bitter defeat, Vasey's performance was considered outstanding; he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), awarded a Bar to his DSO, and later the Greek War Cross.
Papuan Campaign Vasey returned to Australia in December 1941 to become Chief of Staff of Home Forces, with the rank of major general, which became substantive on 1 September 1942. At age 46, this made him the youngest general in the Australian Army for a time.Horner, General Vasey's War, p. 163 His new command had the role of training and organising the Army in Australia, a task which became urgent with the entry of Japan into the war. In March 1942, Vasey, along with Major General Edmund Herring and Brigadier Clive Steele, approached Army Minister Frank Forde with a proposal that all officers over the age of 50 be immediately retired and Major General Horace Robertson appointed Commander in Chief. The "revolt of the generals" collapsed with the welcome news that Blamey was returning from the Middle East to become Commander in Chief.Horner, Crisis of Command, pp. 57–58 In the reorganisation that followed his return, Blamey appointed Vasey as Deputy Chief of the General Staff (DCGS).Horner, Crisis of Command, p. 299 The two men worked closely, with Vasey conveying Blamey's orders to commanders in the field.Horner, General Vasey's War, pp. 172–175 With the establishment of Advanced Land Headquarters (Landops) at St Lucia, Queensland, Vasey became the principal operational staff officer there.Horner, General Vasey's War, pp. 175–176
In September 1942, Blamey decided to send the 6th Division to Papua to help stem the Japanese advance along the Kokoda Trail. He visited Lieutenant General Sydney Rowell, commander of New Guinea Force and I Corps, in Port Moresby and asked him who he would prefer to command the division. Rowell selected Vasey, so Vasey became commander of the 6th Division, and was replaced as DCGS by Berryman.Horner, General Vasey's War, p. 190 Later that month, General Douglas MacArthur and Prime Minister John Curtin ordered Blamey to take personal command of New Guinea Force. After a falling out, Blamey relieved first Rowell, replacing him with Herring,Horner, Crisis of Command, pp. 181–188 and then Major General Arthur "Tubby" Allen of the 7th Division. On 27 October, Vasey flew up to Myola to relieve Allen.Horner, Crisis of Command, pp. 203–204
Under Vasey's command, the 7th Division recaptured Kokoda on 2 November.McCarthy, South West Pacific Area – First Year, pp. 314–315 It pushed on towards the north coast of Papua, only to be stopped by the Japanese short of their ultimate objective.Horner, General Vasey's War, pp. 218–219 The division was forced to fight a bloody battle around Buna, and, together with American troops under Lieutenant General Robert L. Eichelberger, ultimately defeated the Japanese and captured Gona.Horner, General Vasey's War, pp. 235–237 After the campaign, the 7th Division returned to Australia. The men went on leave before reassembling for training on the Atherton Tableland. Vasey went on leave in Melbourne but wound up being admitted to the Heidelberg Military Hospital for treatment for Malaria.Horner, General Vasey's War, p. 239
New Guinea Campaign
By July 1943, the 7th Division was on its way back to Port Moresby. Vasey flew up to work out arrangements with Herring and the air commander in New Guinea, Major General Ennis Whitehead of the US Fifth Air Force.Horner, General Vasey's War, pp. 258–259 Probably inspired by his experience on Crete, Vasey proposed using paratroops, and pressed his superiors for an entire regiment instead of the battalion he was originally allotted. The new campaign opened in spectacular fashion on 5 September 1943 with a parachute drop of the US 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment in broad daylight to seize the airstrip at Nadzab in the Markham Valley. They were soon reinforced by Australian and Papuan troops that had advanced overland from Wau, and then by the 7th Division's 25th Infantry Brigade, which flew in by air.Dexter, The New Guinea Offensives, pp. 344–346