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Australian War Memorial #013337
"Silent Cyril" Clowes graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, just in time for the First World War, and was wounded at Gallipoli and recovered in time to be decorated for service in France. Unlike many other Australian officers, he remained a professional soldier between the wars. He was a cautious, taciturn veteran of the debacle in Greece early in the Second World War.
Clowes commanded the Allied forces that defended
Milne Bay in August 1942. His caution served him well in this battle, where he
refused to disperse his troops along the north shore of Milne
Bay. However, he was criticized by both MacArthur and Blamey, neither of whom had
seen the terrain, for not moving
more quickly to push the Japanese
back into the sea. Sickened with malaria, he returned to Australian in 1943 and held rear area commands thereafter.
| 1892-3-11
|
Born at Warwick, Queensland |
|
| 1914 |
Second lieutenant |
Graduates from Royal Military College, Duntroon. Assigned to 1 Field Artillery Brigade. |
| 1916 |
Captain |
2 Division |
| 1920 |
Major |
Instructor, Royal Military College, Duntroon |
| 1936-1 |
Lieutenant colonel |
|
| 1938 |
Chief instructor, School of Artillery, Sydney |
|
| 1939-8 |
Commander, 6 Military District, Tasmania |
|
| 1939-11-2 |
Colonel |
|
| 1940-4-5 |
Brigadier | Commander, Royal Artillery 1 Australian Corps,
Middle East |
| 1941 |
Royal Artillery, 2 Australian Imperial
Force |
|
| 1942-1-7 |
Major
general |
Commander, 1 Australian Division |
| 1942-8-22 |
Commander, Milne Force |
|
| 1942-12-7 |
Commander, 11 Australian Division |
|
| 1943-2 |
Commander, Victoria Lines of
Communications Area |
|
| 1945 |
Adjutant-general, Australian
Military Forces |
|
| 1946 |
Commander, Southern Command |
|
| 1949-6-1 |
Lieutenant general |
Retires |
| 1968-5-19 |
Dies at Melbourne |
References
Australian Dictionary of Biography (accessed 2011-6-17)
Australian War Memorial (accessed 2011-6-17)
Generals.dk (accessed 2008-2-9)
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