George Vasey
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| George Alan Vasey | |
|---|---|
| 29 March 1895 – 5 March 1945 | |
 Portrait of Major General George Vasey by A. M. E. Bale |
|
| Nickname | Bloody George |
| Place of birth | Malvern East, Victoria |
| Place of death | near Cairns, Queensland |
| Allegiance | Australian Army |
| Years of service | 1913-1945 |
| Rank | Major General |
| Commands | Australian 19th Infantry Brigade Australian 6th Division Australian 7th Division |
| Battles/wars | World War II Battle of Greece Battle of Crete Kokoda Track campaign Salamaua-Lae campaign Finisterre Range campaign |
| Awards | CB, CBE, DSO and bar, Distinguished Service Cross (United States), Military Cross (Greece) |
George Alan Vasey, CB, CBE, DSO and Bar (29 March 1895–5 March 1945) was an Australian soldier. He was rose to the rank of Major General during World War II, before being killed in a plane crash.
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[edit] Early life
Vasey, known as Alan to his family, was born in Malvern East, Victoria on 29 March 1895, the third of six children of George Brinsden Vasey, a solicitor, and his wife Alice Isabel, née McCutcheon.
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 in the Australian Army Cadets, in which he became a Second Lieutenant.
In 1913, he entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon in Canberra, Australia. Of 33 members of his class, in which Vasey graduated tenth, nine died in the Great War. Six later became generals: Leslie Ellis Beavis, Frank Horton Berryman, William Bridgeford, John Austin Chapman, Edward James Milford and George Vasey. The war caused his class to be graduated early, in June 1915.
[edit] World War I
Vasey was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Permanent Military Forces (regular army), and joined the First 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.
In February 1917 Vasey was posted to Brigadier General James Cannan's 11th Infantry Brigade as a trainee staff captain. This brigade, part of Maj. Gen. John Monash's 3rd Division, was involved in heavy fighting at Messines and Third Ypres.
Vasey became Brigade Major of the 11th Infantry Brigade in August 1917, General Cannan having formed a high opinion of him. He was promoted to Major in September 1917. 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. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order [1] and was twice mentioned in dispatches.
[edit] Between the Wars
Vasey returned to Australia in September 1919 and returned to PMF, in which he held the substantive rank of Lieutenant and the honorary rank of Major, but he was not promoted to the substantive rank of Major until March 1, 1935. He became discouraged at his prospects with the Army and, studying at night, qualified as an accountant. He married Jessie Mary Halbert at St Matthew's Church of England, Glenroy, Victoria on 17 May 1921. Held a series of postings in Australia and India, where he served on the headquarters of the Rawalpindi District on the North-West Frontier where there were minor operations against local tribesmen, and attended the Staff College at Quetta, India, from 1928 to 1929. He was finally promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on 12 May 1937, after near 20 years as a Major. He was promoted to the substantial rank on 2 November 1939.
[edit] World War II
Shortly after the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Blamey appointed Vasey to 6th Division as his Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General. The such, he was the senior logistics staff officer of the division. He embarked for Palestine with the advance party of the division in December 1939. He held this post during the Battle of Bardia.
In March 1941, Vasey was promoted to temporary Brigadier, and took command of the 6th Division's 19th Infantry Brigade, which he led in Greece, suffering a defeat at the Battle of Vevi. The 19th Infantry Brigade was evacuated to Crete, where his brigade in the Battle of Crete. Vasey was commended for his work in Crete and was among the last to be evacuated from there, but some 3,000 Australians were taken prisoner. Although it was a bitter defeat, Vasey's performance was considered outstanding, and was awarded a Bar to his DSO,[2], and later the Greek Military Cross.
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. and served in a staff position in Australia for a short time. His new command had the role of training and organizing 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 General Horace Robertson appointed Commander in Chief. The "revolt of the generals" collapsed with the news that Blamey was returning from the Middle East to become Commander in Chief.
In the reorganization that followed his return, Blamey appointed Vasey as Deputy Chief of the General Staff (DCGS) at Advanced Land Headquarters. The two men worked closely, with Vasey conveying Blamey's orders to commanders in the field. In September 1942, Blamey decided to send the 6th Division to Papua to help stem the Japanese advance. Blamey visited Lieutenant General Sidney Rowell, commander of 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 Maj. Gen. Frank Berryman. Blamey relieved first Rowell, replacing him with Herring, and then Maj. Gen. Arthur Allen of the 7th Division, which was fighting along the Kokoda Trail. On 27 October, Vasey flew up to Myola to relieve Allen.
Under Vasey's command, the 7th Division recaptured Kokoda on 2 November. It pushed on towards the north coast of Papua, only to be stopped by the Japanese short of their ultimate objective. The division was forced to fight a bloody battle around Buna, and, along with U.S. troops under Lieutenant General Robert L. Eichelberger, ultimately defeated the Japanese and captured Gona.
After the campaign, the 7th Division returned to Australia. The men went on leave before reassembling for training on the Atherton Tableland. By July 1943, they were on their way back to Port Moresby. Vasey flew up to work out arrangements with Herring and the air commander in New Guinea, Major General Ennis Clement Whitehead of the US Fifth Air Force.
The new campaign opened in spectacular fashion on 5 September 1943 with a parachute drop the US 503rd Parachute Infantry 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. The 25th Infantry Brigade advanced down the Markham Valley and entered Lae on 16 September. The division then advanced up the Markham Valley and down the Ramu Valley. A series of brilliant operations followed. First, commandos of the 2/6th Independent Company seized Kaiapit in a surprise attack on 19 September. Vasey flew there on 21 September in a Piper Cub, followed by his 21st Infantry Brigade, under Brigadier Ivan Noel Dougherty. The 21st Infantry Brigade advanced on Gusap and then Dumpu, where Vasey established his headquarters on 10 October. Finally, it pushed on into the Finisterre Range, where it was halted by logistical difficulties. In the Finisterre Range campaign, the 7th Division captured Shaggy Ridge and advanced across the mountains towards Madang.
Despite his achievements, Vasey was twice passed over for promotion. In November 1943, the announcement of the appointment of Lt Gen. Iven Mackay as High Commissioner to India, and the subsequent elevation of Lt Gen. Leslie Morshead to command New Guinea Force and Second Army, created a vacancy at II Corps, which was filled by Lt Gen. Frank Berryman. Then in February 1944, the appointment of Lt Gen. Sir Edmund Herring as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, led to a vacancy at I Corps, for which General Blamey nominated both Vasey and Maj. Gen. Stanley Savige, but recommended the latter. Army Minister Frank Forde queried Blamey's recommendation, which was very unusual, and asked who was the senior officer. On being informed that Savige was senior to Vasey — although not as senior as Arthur "Tubby" Allen or James Cannan— he dropped his objection. General Douglas MacArthur considered Vasey's supersession "outrageous".
Blamey was concerned about Vasey's health. Vasey was drinking heavily, and was hospitalized in New Guinea in February 1944 with a skin condition, and in Australia in March 1944 with a respiratory tract infection. In June 1944, he became seriously ill with malaria and acute Peripheral neuropathy, and for a time was not expected to live. 7th Division soldiers in the hospital constantly asked about his progress. The men called him 'Bloody George', not after his casualties, but after his favourite adjective, and Vasey's personable style of command attracted immense loyalty from his men.
Vasey slowly recovered and in February 1945, Frank Forde pressed for Vasey to be given another active command. Blamey appointed him to command the 6th Division, then in action in the Aitape-Wewak campaign. Vasey flew north to take up his new command, but on 5 March 1945 the Lockheed Hudson aircraft he was travelling in crashed into the sea off Cairns, killing all on board. He became the fourth most senior Australian officer to die in World War II, after General Sir Cyril Brudenell White, Lt Gen. Henry Douglas Wynter, and Maj. Gen. Rupert Major Downes (who died in the same plane crash as Vasey). He was buried with full military honours in Cairns cemetery. His papers are in the National Library of Australia.
[edit] References
- Horner, David, General Vasey's War, ISBN 0 522 84462 6
