John Whitelaw

Major General John Stewart Whitelaw, (26 August 1894 – 21 April 1964) was a senior officer in the Australian Army. Whitelaw was a graduate of the first intake of the Royal Military College, Duntroon and served briefly at Gallipoli with an infantry battalion during the First World War. His war service was, however, cut short by a bullet wound suffered during the landing on 25 April 1915 and he returned to Australia where, during the interwar years, he transferred to the artillery and undertook a number of staff and instructional postings. During the Second World War, although he did not serve overseas in an operational role, in his capacity as a senior artillery officer Whitelaw had responsibility for all matters relating to the development of artillery in the Australian Army and in this role he championed the introduction of new technologies and weaponry into the corps and the development of Australian defence industries.

Following the end of hostilities Whitelaw served as general officer commanding of the Army's Western Command as well presiding over the war crimes tribunals held at Rabaul, New Guinea in 1947. He retired from the military in 1951 with a number of high honours, nevertheless he continued his links with the Army and in 1955 he accepted the ceremonial role of Colonel Commandant of the Royal Australian Artillery, a post he held until 1961. He died in 1964, aged 69.

Early life Whitelaw was born on 26 August 1894 at Hawthorn, Victoria. He was oldest of three children, born to ironmonger Thomas Whitelaw and his wife Margaret (née Hunter). In his formative years he attended Wesley College before being accepted into the first intake of the newly established Royal Military College, Duntroon where he undertook training to be commissioned as an officer in the Australian Army.

Military career First World War The outbreak of the First World War interrupted Whitelaw's studies at the college before he could complete the full four-year course as the Army decided to graduate the first class early so that they could be sent over to the Middle East with the Australian Imperial Force that was being raised for overseas service. As a result, shortly after the declaration of war Whitelaw was commissioned as a lieutenant in the AIF and posted to the 7th Battalion,

After only a short period of training, Whitelaw departed Australia on the transport Hororata on 19 October 1914 along with the first contingent of Australians bound for Egypt,

In late 1917 Whitelaw had transferred to the Royal Australian Garrison Artillery, which had responsibility for all coastal artillery batteries around Australia. Undertaking various staff and regimental appointments he served in this capacity until the end of the war, seeing no further overseas service. from the United Kingdom and advocated their development in Australia. During this time he undertook a couple of overseas study tours in his official capacity, first to the Netherlands East Indies and then to Singapore to investigate the development of coastal artillery in Allied forces. In 1941, while serving as the aide-de-camp to Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie in his capacity of governor general, Whitelaw received a temporary promotion to brigadier

In April 1942 he was promoted to the rank of major general and posted to Land Headquarters in Melbourne where he was placed in charge of all artillery matters in the Australian Army, a task that encompassed a multitude of responsibilities including dealing with issues of supply to forward artillery units serving in the South West Pacific Area and the development of new weapons such as the Ordnance QF 25-pounder Short, which was designed specifically for the harsh conditions that the Army faced in the jungles of New Guinea and elsewhere. For his contributions to the Army in his 40 years of service, Whitelaw was invested as a Companion of the Order of the Bath.

Retirement In his retirement Whitelaw undertook volunteer work with Legacy, a charitable organisation that cares for the dependents of deceased servicemen and women, and also the Victorian Country Fire Authority. served in the Second World War with the 2/2nd Field Regiment. He married in January 1943, and was President of the Royal Australian Artillery Association (Victoria) Inc. from 1984 to 1987.

Frederick Thomas

Brigadier Frederick Thomas (Fred) Whitelaw, CBE, (born 1919) entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1937 and graduated in 1940. By the end of the war, he was in command of the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Regiment (Heavy). In 1951, Lieutenant Colonel Whitelaw was General Staff Officer Grade 1 in the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Kure, Japan, returning to Australia with his wife and son in April 1952. In 1961, Colonel Whitelaw was commander of the Royal Tasmania Regiment. After a period as Commander of the Australian Army Force, Far East Land Forces, in November 1971 Brigadier Whitelaw became ANZUK commander in Singapore. On completion of his 2-year term, he returned to a staff appointment at Army Headquarters in Canberra.

John Major General John Whitelaw, AO, CBE (1921–2010) enlisted in the Militia in 1939 and served in New Guinea and Bouganville during the Second World War. When the Citizen Military Force (CMF) was restructured, Captain Whitelaw returned to the Active List with Headquarters Western Command on 4 July 1948. He applied for a commission in the Interim Army, and on 1 July 1949 began a full-time army career which consumed him for the next 29 years during which he rose to become a major general and Deputy Chief of the General Staff.