Victor Secombe

Lieutenant General Victor Clarence Secombe, (9 January 1897 – 3 February 1962) was a general officer of the Australian Army. He served in the First and Second World Wars.

Born in Glen Wills near Omeo, Victoria, Secombe graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in late 1917 and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Australian Imperial Force. He served with engineering units of the 5th Division during the last months of the First World War. Remaining in the military for the interwar period, he held a number of engineering postings in and later taught at Duntroon. During the early years of the Second World War, he served with the 7th Australian Division during the early stages of the North African Campaign before taking up engineering commands in the South West Pacific Area. After the war he served as Master-General of Ordnance and commanded Northern and Eastern Commands. He retired from the military in 1954 and took up cattle farming. He died in 1962 at the age of 65.

Early life Victor Clarence Secombe was born on 9 January 1897 at Glen Wills near Omeo, Victoria, to a miner and his wife. Educated initially at Swifts Creek State School, he later attended a boarding school at Ballarat. In 1915 he entered the Royal Military College at Duntroon. He graduated in late 1917.

Military career Secombe was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Australian Imperial Force in January 1918, and was posted to 15th Field Company, Engineers, on the Western Front. He became adjutant of the 5th Division engineers in January 1919. After attending an engineering course in England he returned to Australia at the end of 1919, and for the next several years held a number of staff positions with Royal Australian Engineer (RAE) units working on coastal defences. From 1922 to 1923, he attended Melbourne University, where he studied civil engineering. By 1936, he had been promoted to major and at the end of the year, joined the teaching staff at Duntroon. He was survived by his wife, whom he married in 1929, and two children. A son, also a graduate of Duntroon, predeceased him.