John Field

Brigadier John Field, (10 April 1899 – 12 May 1974) was a senior officer in the Australian Army during the Second World War. He commanded the 2/12th Battalion in the Middle East and Milne Force and the 7th Brigade in New Guinea. He later went on to work with the State Electricity Commission of Victoria in large projects at Yallourn and the Latrobe Valley.

Early life Born on 10 April 1899 at Castlemaine, Victoria, the only son of John Woodhouse Barnett Field and his wife Emily, née Bennett. His father was a colonel in the Citizens Military Force, and in 1910 he became a boy bugler of his father's regiment, the 8th Australian Infantry Regiment. He attended Castlemaine High School and went on to further studies at the Castlemaine Technical School. He was an apprentice to the engineering firm Thompson & Co. Pty Ltd when he was 15 years old, and he went on to become the senior designing draughtsman. He specialised in centrifugal pumps and pumping-plants.

Disembarking in Egypt on 31 December 1940, he set about training his troops for desert warfare. In February 1941, the 2/12th Battalion was transferred to the 9th Division. In early 1944, he and the 7th Brigade were deployed overseas again to Madang, Territory of New Guinea. While being transported in an aircraft in September, the aircraft crashed while en route from Lae to Madang, he and his party trekked for nine days before reaching safety. Transferred to Bougainville Island in November as part of Lieutenant General Stanley Savige's II Corps. He led the brigade during a number of significant battles until the end of the war including the battle of Pearl Ridge and battle of Slater's Knoll. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 21 February 1946 and mentioned in despatches on 15 April 1947 for his part in the Bougainville campaign.

Later life After the cessation of hostilities, he arrived back in Australia, where he assisted the demobilisation and disposal from October 1945. He was appointed aide de camp to the Governor-General from 11 January 1946 serving in this role until 10 January 1949. He transferred to the Reserve of Officers on 27 November 1949. He took up a position with the State Electricity Commission of Victoria in December as assistant general superintendent for Yallourn Power Station and later became general superintendent in 1951. He retired from the State Electricity Commission of Victoria in 1964.

Field died on 12 May 1974 at St Kilda and was cremated. He was survived by his wife and three daughters.