John David Rogers

Brigadier John David Rogers, (29 April 1895 – 10 April 1978) was an Australian Army brigadier. During the First World War he served in the Gallipoli campaign and on the Western Front, where he was awarded the Military Cross. During the Second World War he was the Australian Army's Director of Military Intelligence. He represented Australia at the Japanese surrender at Singapore in September 1945.

A student at the University of Melbourne when the First World War broke out in August 1914, Rogers enlisted in the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF). He served with the 6th Battalion at Gallipoli, where he earned a commission as a second lieutenant, and on the Western Front, where he was promoted to captain. In February 1917 he was seconded to 1st Division Headquarters for training as a staff officer. He served on the general staff of the 1st Division and the Australian Corps under Brigadier General Thomas Blamey. Rogers returned to his studies after the war and became a chemist with the Vacuum Oil Company. He rose through the ranks of the company, becoming assistant general manager for New South Wales in 1935.

During the Second World War, Blamey offered Rogers a position on the new I Corps staff as an intelligence officer, and he joined the Second AIF in June 1940. During the Battle of Greece he supervised the evacuation of the corps from Greece. He became the Australian liaison officer at General Douglas MacArthur's General Headquarters in March 1942 before being appointed the Australian Army's Director of Military Intelligence (DMI) in July. His intelligence section frequently differed with that of GHQ over estimates of Japanese troop strength. In November 1944 he was forced to suspend publication of his Australian Military Forces Weekly Intelligence Review for three months after evidence emerged that it was reaching the Japanese via the Soviet Union's ambassador. After the war he returned to the Vacuum Oil Company as its general manager for New South Wales in 1945, deputy chairman in 1954 and chairman from 1958 to 1959.

Early life and education John David Rogers was born in Penguin, Tasmania, on 29 April 1895, the second of nine children of James Rogers, a Methodist clergyman, and his wife Agnes Caldwell. He had an older brother James Stanley Rogers, and younger sisters Agnes, Jean, Ethel, Mill, Lois and Ella. (Another brother died in infancy.) The family moved to Campbells Creek, Victoria, in 1900, and then to Dimboola, Victoria, in 1905. While there, he served in the Melbourne University Rifles.

Great War Gallipoli campaign Rogers's studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914. He enlisted in the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on 20 August 1914, joining the 6th Battalion, which was part of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division. After initial training at Broadmeadows, the 6th Battalion embarked for Egypt on the troop transport HMAT Hororata on 18 October.

In the Battle of Pozieres, the 6th Battalion did not participate in the assault, but came in to relieve the 2nd Battalion. Rogers went forward with his battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel H. G. "Ginger" Bennett. They were able to organise the relief, but the 6th Battalion came under a heavy German barrage. Battalion headquarters was in a dugout that was hit six times. Years later Rogers praised the actions of Bennett, who still visited his companies every day despite the bombardment. The casualties in the battle created vacancies in the establishment, and Rogers was promoted to captain on 23 December. Eight days later he assumed command of B Company.

Rogers's time in command of B Company was brief; on 24 February 1917 he was seconded to 1st Division Headquarters for training as a brigade major, the chief of staff of a brigade, As part of his training, Rogers was seconded to Bennett's 3rd Brigade as the brigade intelligence officer. During the Battle of Menin Road in September, he laid tapes marking the jumping off positions for the 3rd Brigade's attack. He was mentioned in despatches on 28 May 1918.

On 1 June 1918, Lieutenant General John Monash assumed command of the Australian Corps. Blamey became the Corps brigadier general, general staff. In turn, Blamey brought Rogers in as his GSO3 (Operations). In this role Rogers worked under the GSO2 (Operations), Major Richard Casey, and was involved in the planning and execution of the Battle of Hamel, the Battle of Amiens and the Hundred Days Offensive.

Rogers was one of 60 officers and 740 other ranks granted Anzac Leave — two months' furlough in Australia for men who had joined the AIF in 1914. He embarked on the on 6 October, which took them to New York and crossed Canada on the Canadian Pacific Railroad. They embarked in Vancouver on the and reached Sydney on 22 December, by which time the war was over. His AIF appointment was officially terminated on 21 February 1919. For his service, in addition to his Military Cross, he was awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre, the 1914–15 Star, British War Medal and the Victory Medal. and was president of the Student Representative Council. He was awarded a Mining and metallurgical bursary and the Bloomfleld scholarship, a special award for a returned soldier pursuing a degree. Rogers and his brother Stan paid for their sisters Mill and Ethel to attend the Methodist Ladies' College, Melbourne. He rejoined the Melbourne University Rifles. Men who had served in the AIF retained their wartime rank as an honorary rank, but his rank of captain became substantive on 1 December 1920, and he became second in command of the regiment. On 1 July 1921, he joined the intelligence section of the 3rd Military District.

Rogers met Irene Myrola Rowe, In April 1918, she became the first woman in Australia to receive a Bachelor of Agricultural Science. She was the only student to receive that degree that year; all the boys had joined the forces. Rogers and Rene were married at the Methodist Church in Balaclava, Victoria, on 14 September 1922, with Rogers's father performing the ceremony. They had three children: David William, Allan John and Judith Ann.

At the time of his wedding, Rogers was unemployed, and the couple lived off Rene's salary until Rogers accepted an offer from his friend Austin Laughlin, who had also been awarded the Military Cross for the June 1916 trench raid, of a job as a chemist at Laughlin's family timber veneer factory. In late 1923, Rogers accepted a position as a chemist with the Vacuum Oil Company at its terminal at Pulpit Point in Sydney, where he was responsible for oil quality, safety and security. He returned to Melbourne in a management position with the company in 1928, and then moved to Perth as assistant general manager there in 1931. He moved back to Sydney in 1935 as Vacuum's assistant general manager for New South Wales, before returning to the head office in Melbourne in 1938. In November 1938, Rogers and Rene took a six-month tour of Vacuum installations in North America. They travelled across Canada in the reverse of the direction Rogers had taken in 1919, stopping at Banff and Niagara Falls on the way, and ultimately visiting Vacuum headquarters at 26 Broadway in New York City. They returned to Melbourne in April 1939.

Second World War Middle East After the outbreak of the Second World War, Blamey was appointed to command the Second Australian Imperial Force and promoted to lieutenant general on 13 October 1939. Rogers decided to enlist, and he negotiated a deal with Vacuum to guarantee him a position when the war was over. In May 1940, he approached Blamey and asked if the Second AIF could use him. As it happened, the government had decided to form another division in the AIF, and to group them into a corps under Blamey's command. Blamey offered Rogers a position on the new I Corps staff as an intelligence officer. According to military historian Gavin Long, intelligence was "a branch which, peculiarly, held little appeal for professional staff officers". Between the wars there was no Intelligence Corps and no training in intelligence. Rogers joined the Second AIF on 1 June 1940, and received the AIF service number VX40124. He was promoted to major on 15 June, and attended a brief intelligence course in Narellan, New South Wales, from 23 June to 3 July before embarking for Palestine on the on 13 August. His citation read:Throughout the Grecian campaign, this officer performed most excellent work as GSO Intelligence. He performed particularly gallant work in the evacuation of personnel from the beaches in Greece and his capacity to withstand strain over an extended period was most marked. and established his General Headquarters (GHQ) at MacRobertson Girls' High School in Melbourne. On 31 March, Blamey appointed Rogers as his liaison officer at GHQ. He was promoted to the temporary rank of colonel on 1 May 1942.

Rogers flew from San Francisco on 16 October 1944 and was back in Brisbane on 28 October. He was immediately confronted by another controversy over estimates of Japanese troop strength, this time in Bougainville. Willoughby estimated that there were 12,000 Japanese present; Lewis thought there were 41,000. The following month a more serious matter arose, forcing Rogers to suspend publication of the Australian Military Forces Weekly Intelligence Review until February 1945: Ultra indicated that the Japanese in Tokyo were receiving copies. The LHQ Intelligence Section moved to Hollandia on 15 December but Rogers remained behind to deal with the issue. Chinese and Soviet diplomats were suspected. Blamey agreed to restrict circulation of the AMF Intelligence Review, leaving the Chinese liaison officers off the distribution list, and to omit any material sourced by Ultra. Suspicion then fell on the Soviet ambassador in Canberra. Rogers rejoined his section in Hollandia on 13 March 1945; six days later it rejoined Advance LHQ on Morotai.

On 15 August 1945, Blamey informed Rogers that he had been chosen to head the Australian mission to South East Asia Command and represent Australia at the official Japanese surrender at Singapore. The ceremony took place on 12 September. Rogers had chosen 120 men from the 1st Parachute Battalion to represent Australia because they had been prepared to rescue Australian prisoners held in Singapore. He returned to Australia on 4 October and his AIF appointment was terminated on 22 November. He was transferred to the Reserve of Officers with the substantive rank of colonel and the honorary rank of brigadier. Willoughby recommended him for an American award but this was disapproved by the government.

Later life Rogers returned to the Vacuum Oil Company as its general manager for New South Wales, based in Sydney. He returned to Melbourne as the company's marketing director in 1948. He worked for the company in New York from 1951 to 1952. He returned to Melbourne, where he became deputy chairman of the Australian subsidiary in 1954 and chairman in 1958. He retired in 1959. He also served on the boards of the Moulded Products from 1959 to 1967, Mayne Nickless from 1959 to 1967, David Syme & Co. from 1960 to 1967 and the Trustees, Executors & Agency Co. from 1959 to 1970. He was honorary colonel of the Australian Army Intelligence Corps from 1956 to 1961, and chief executive officer of the building committee of the Victorian Arts Centre from 1959 to 1971. In this role he oversaw the construction of the National Gallery of Victoria. He died in Caulfield Hospital on 10 April 1978 after suffering a stroke and his remains were cremated.

Dates of rank

Honours and awards