Australian Prime Ministers with military service
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Australian Prime Ministers do not command their country's armed forces (the Governor-General does). Some Australian Prime Ministers have had military service, however. They are:
- Stanley Melbourne Bruce - Served in the British Army in World War I; was severely wounded in France.
- Earle Page - Officer in the Australian Army medical corps, stationed in Egypt during World War I.
- Harold Holt - Enlisted in Australian Army in 1940 while still a Member of Parliament; recalled after the death of three ministers in a Canberra air crash.
- John McEwen - Enlisted in army in 1918 but war ended when he was still in training.
- John Grey Gorton - Enlisted in Royal Australian Air Force in 1940. A fighter pilot in World War II, Gorton had two serious crashes, one of which gave him serious facial injuries.
- William McMahon - Joined the Army in 1940, but due to deafness was confined to staff work.
- Gough Whitlam - Served in World War II in RAAF, reached rank of Flight Lieutenant.
