Lieutenant General

Lieutenant General (Australia)

Lieutenant general is the second-highest active rank of the Australian Army and was created as a direct equivalent of the British military rank of lieutenant general. It is also considered a three-star rank....

 Sir Alwyn Ragnar Garrett KBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

, CB

Order of the Bath

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

 (12 February 1900 – 4 November 1977) was a senior officer in the Australian Army

Australian Army

The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...

 who served as Chief of the General Staff (1958–1960).

Military career

Educated at Guildford Grammar School

Guildford Grammar School

Guildford Grammar School, informally known as Guildford Grammar, Guildford or GGS, is an independent, day and boarding school for boys situated in Guildford, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia....

, Garrett graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon

Royal Military College, Duntroon

The Royal Military College, Duntroon is the Australian Army's officer training establishment. It was founded at Duntroon, in the Australian Capital Territory, in 1911 and is situated on picturesque grounds at the foot of Mount Pleasant near Lake Burley Griffin, close to the Department of Defence...

 into the Australian Light Horse in 1921.

He served in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 becoming Commanding Officer

Commanding officer

The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...

 of a battalion of the Australian Imperial Force

Australian Imperial Force

The Australian Imperial Force was the name given to all-volunteer Australian Army forces dispatched to fight overseas during World War I and World War II.* First Australian Imperial Force * Second Australian Imperial Force...

 in 1940. The following year he fought in Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 and Crete

Crete

Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...

 with 19th Brigade and in 1943 he was deployed to New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

 and Bougainville. He completely re-organised the Forces in New Guinea.

After the War he became Brigadier

Brigadier

Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....

 in Charge of Administration for the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 and in 1949 he was made Commandant

Commandant

Commandant is a senior title often given to the officer in charge of a large training establishment or academy. This usage is common in anglophone nations...

 of the Staff College, Queenscliff. He went on to be General Officer Commanding

General Officer Commanding

General Officer Commanding is the usual title given in the armies of Commonwealth nations to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC II Corps or GOC 7th Armoured Division...

 Western Command in 1951, Deputy Chief of the General Staff in 1953, and GOC Southern Command in 1954. He was appointed Chief of the General Staff in 1958 and retired in 1960.

Later he became Principal of the Australian Administrative Staff College and in that role lobbied for the Army to have a Division ready for war at all times.