Sydney Rowell Military person

Lieutenant General Sir Sydney Fairbairn Rowell, KBE, CB (15 December 1894 – 12 April 1975) was an Australian soldier who served as Chief of the General Staff from 17 April 1950 to 15 December 1954. As Vice Chief of the General Staff from 8 January 1946 to 16 April 1950 he played a key role in the post-Second World War reorganisation of the Army, and in the 1949 Australian coal strike. However, he is best known as the commander who was dismissed in the Kokoda Track campaign.As a young officer, Rowell served at Gallipoli but was invalided back to Australia with typhoid fever in January 1916. The end of the war found Rowell junior in rank to his contemporaries with more distinguished war records, but he managed to catch up in the post-war period. Rowell spent five years with the British Army or at British staff colleges, establishing valuable contacts with his British counterparts. In 1939 he was appointed chief of staff of the 6th Division and later I Corps, serving in that capacity in the Battle of Greece and the Syria-Lebanon campaign. In 1942 he commanded I Corps in the Kokoda Track campaign but was sacked. His subsequent rise to become Chief of the General Staff demonstrated that the circumstances of his dismissal in 1942 were indeed extraordinary.

Personal facts

Birth date	December 15, 1894
Birth place	Lockleys South Australia
Date of death	April 12, 1975
Place of death	South Yarra Victoria

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Military person

allegiance	Australia
award	Order of the Bath Mentioned in dispatches War Cross (Greece) Order of the British Empire
military operations	Korean War Western Desert Campaign World War II Kokoda Track campaign World War I Gallipoli Campaign Battle of Greece Syria–Lebanon Campaign
military branch	Australian Army
military command	I Corps Chief General Staff
service number	VX3
service start	1914
service end	1954