Rohan Delacombe

Major General Sir Rohan Delacombe KCMG, KCVO, KBE, CB, DSO, KStJ (25 October 1906 – 10 November 1991) was a British general officer who commanded the British occupation forces in Berlin from 1959 to 1962 at the height of the Cold War. He was also the last British Governor of Victoria in Australia from 1963 to 1974.

Early life

Delacombe was born in Malta on 25 October 1906, the son of Addis and Emma Louise Mary Delacombe.

Military career

Delacombe was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Royal Scots regiment of the British Army on 4 February 1926,^[1] and was promoted to lieutenant on 4 February 1929.^[2] He saw service in Egypt, North China and Quetta in India (now Pakistan) with the Regiment's 1st Battalion, and was promoted to captain on 2 March 1937.^[3] He then served in Palestine from 1937 until the outbreak of World War II in 1939; he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, Military Division (MBE) in the 1939 King's Birthday Honours List.^[4] Delacombe was posted with the 4th Infantry Brigade as part of the British Expeditionary Force which was sent to the Franco-Belgian border following Germany's invasion of Poland. After working at the British Army Staff College in 1940, Delacombe assisted Lt Gen Adrian Carton de Wiart as a General Staff Officer (Grade 2) during the Namsos Campaign in Norway.^[5]

In 1942, he was made commanding officer of the Royal Scots 8th Battalion with the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel, and was promoted to the substantive rank of major on 4 February 1943.^[6] He led the battalion at the Battle of Normandy in 1944, where his leadership earned him a Distinguished Service Order (DSO), gazetted on 19 October 1944.^[7] He was then made a commander of the Royal Scots 2nd Battalion, which fought in the Italian Campaign, followed by security duties in Lebanon.

Delacombe then returned to staff duties as General Staff Officer (Grade 1) during the re-occupation of British Malaya from 1945 to 1947. He was promoted to substantive lieutenant-colonel on 22 March 1948,^[8] and served as a general staff Colonel at the headquarters of the British Army of the Rhine. He was promoted to colonel on 31 December 1950 and was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Military Division (CBE) in the 1951 New Year Honours List.^[9][10] He spent much of the next 14 years from 1948 to 1962 in Germany. He served as a temporary brigadier commanding the 5th Infantry Brigade (1950–1953), and was promoted to brigadier on 16 November 1954,^[11] in which capacity he was Deputy Military Secretary for the War Office. He was promoted to temporary major-general on 4 October 1955 and appointed General Officer Commanding of the 52nd (Lowland) Division.^[12] and to substantive major-general on 29 November 1956.^[13] He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath, Military Division (CB) in the 1957 Birthday Honours List.^[14] He relinquished command of the division on 10 October 1958 and was appointed Commandant of the British Sector in Berlin on 23 March 1959.^[15][16] As Commandant, his role included representing British interests in Spandau Prison, where Rudolf Hess was incarcerated. Knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Military Division (KBE) in the 1961 Birthday Honours List,^[17] Delacombe relinquished his appointment as Commandant of the British Sector in Berlin on 4 May 1962,^[18] and retired from the army on 27 July.^[19]

Governor of Victoria

Sir Rohan was appointed as Governor of Victoria in Australia in 1963, and was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (KCMG) in the 1964 New Year Honours List.^[20] As Governor, he was made an honorary colonel in the Australian Army's 1st Armoured Regiment.

In 1967, Sir Rohan was petitioned to exercise the Royal prerogative of mercy on behalf of the Queen, to commute the execution of Ronald Ryan. Four members of the jury had submitted a guilty verdict, in the belief that capital punishment had been abolished in Victoria, and that Ryan's sentence would be commuted to life imprisonment. These jurors then petitioned the governor to save Ryan after it became apparent that the Premier Henry Bolte was determined he should hang. Sir Rohan called a meeting with the Victorian cabinet, at which it was unanimously agreed that the execution should proceed. Ryan was hanged on 3 February 1967, the last person in Australia to be executed.^[21]

Delacombe's term ended in 1974.

Death and Legacy

Delacombe died in 1991 in Shrewton in England and was buried in the churchyard at St Mary's Church, Maddington.

Delacombe, Victoria was named in his honour in 1965 during his tenure as Governor of Victoria.^[22]

References

Governors of Victoria Before Federation Hotham Barkly Darling Viscount Canterbury Bowen Marquess Normanby Loch Hope Brassey Clarke After Federation Talbot Gibson-Carmichael Fuller Stanley Earl Stradbroke Lord Somers Lord Huntingfield Dugan Brooks Delacombe Winneke Murray McCaughey McGarvie Gobbo Landy de Kretser Chernov Dessau