Lieutenant General Sir Vernon Ashton Hobart Sturdee, was an Australian Army commander who served two terms as Chief of the General Staff. A regular officer of the Royal Australian Engineers who joined the Militia in 1908, he was one of the original Anzacs during the First World War, participating in the landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. In the campaign that followed, he commanded the 5th Field Company, before going on to lead the 8th Field Company and the 4th Pioneer Battalion on the Western Front. In 1918 he was seconded to General Headquarters (GHQ) British Expeditionary Force as a staff officer.
Lieutenant General Vernon Sturdee, GOC First Army c. 1945
Sturdee outside a dugout at Anzac.
B Company, 4th Pioneer Battalion shifts camp from the Butte de Warlencourt to Fremicourt by light railway.
Senior commanders on Bougainville. Sturdee is on the left.
Chief of Army (Australia)
The Chief of Army is the most senior appointment in the Australian Army, responsible to both the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) and the Secretary, Department of Defence (SECDEF). The rank associated with the position is lieutenant general (3-star).
Image: Gen Sir Edward Hutton
Image: Harry Finn
Image: William Throsby Bridges 2
Image: General Joseph M Gordon
