Australian Lieutenant General. A combat veteran of World War I, he rose in rank to become the Adjutant General of the Australian Army. One of nine children whose father was a master German painter, he received his education at the Violet Street State School in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia where he also taught from 1899 until 1906. In 1899 he joined the First Victorian Volunteer Cadets, rising to the rank of sergeant and in February 1902 he enlisted in the 5th Battalion of the Victorian Infantry, again rising quickly through the enlisted ranks to lance corporal and then in 1903, lance sergeant and then sergeant in 1904. In June 1906, he resigned from the militia and the Victorian Education Department in order to take up a position with the Instructional Staff of the permanent forces. In January 1907 he was promoted to the rank of sergeant major and in July 1909, he was commissioned as a lieutenant. On 1 January 1911 he was sent to New South Wales as brigade major of the 5th Infantry Brigade with the rank of temporary captain, and the rank became permanent in July 1912. While there, he studied the Diploma of Military Science at the University of Sydney. He returned to Victoria as brigade major of the 15th Infantry Brigade and in December 1911 he became staff officer in charge of administering the Universal Training scheme in Victoria. The following year he became Deputy Assistant Adjutants General of the 4th Military District. When World War I broke out in July 1914 he helped to mobilize the Australian Military Force (AMF) in South Australia and joined the 1st Australian Imperial Force as a staff captain in September 1914 and was sent to Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey, arriving in April 1915. For his service at Gallipoli, he was Mentioned in Despatches (the meritorious or gallant action of a soldier that appears in official reports) and in 1916 was awarded The Order of The White Eagle by the King of Serbia. In January 1916 he returned to Egypt and the following month he was given command of the 7th Battalion, and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in March 1916. In July 1916, at the Battle Pozieres in France, he again distinguished himself as a front-line leader. In November 1916 he was appointed first commandant of the I Anzac Corps School but later that month he was recalled to temporarily command 2nd Brigade. From March 1917 to September 1917 he was an instructor at the School for Commanding Officers at Aldershot, England, the first Australian officer to hold such an appointment. From September 1917 until October 1918 he held different positions and during this time he was promoted to the rank of major (January 1918), lieutenant colonel (June 1918), and temporary brigadier general (October 1918), and took over the Australian 10th Infantry Brigade. In March 1919 he took over the Australian Infantry Force (AIF) Training Depot at Codford, England and in July of that year, he became Commandant of the AIF Administrative Headquarters in London. In January 1920 he reverted to his permanent rank of lieutenant colonel and attended the Staff College at Camberley, England, returning to Australia the following year. In May 1921 he became a staff officer with the 4th Australian Division and in 1925, he became Commandant of the 6th Military District (Tasmania). He was promoted to the rank of colonel in 1926 and became commandant of the 5th Military District (Western Australia) in August 1927. In January 1929 he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general and was aide de camp to the Governor General of Australia from 1931 to 1935. In December 1934 he became Adjutant General, and a member of the Military Board, and in July 1935 he was promoted to the rank of major general. After the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general three months later and became commander of the Australian 6th Division. In 1943 he became Director of Women's National Services and organized the Australian Women's Land Army. In March 1944 he became involved in a survey and classification of Army records, compiling a report of the activities of the AMF from 1929 to 1939 which was still unfinished when he went on sick leave in July 1945. He retired in April 1946 with 47 years of continuous military service. His awards and decorations include Knight Bachelor Companion of the Order of the Bath, the Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, the Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and Distinguished Service Order. He died at the age of 64. During his life, he was also an accomplished artist. His water colors of 19th-century and 20th-century Australian and British military uniforms are in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. His hand carved and painted models of military figures, originally exhibited and housed at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Australia were exhibited at the shrine in Melbourne and are now in private collections in Melbourne.