Ronald Lawrence Hughes | |
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Brigadier Hughes with Paul Hasluck, the Minister for External Affairs, in South Vietnam in 1967
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Born |
Adelaide, South Australia |
17 September 1920
Died | 2 February 2003 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory |
(aged 82)
Allegiance | Australia |
Service/branch | Australian Army |
Years of service | 1937–1977 |
Rank | Major General |
Commands held |
1st Division (1974–75) 1st Australian Task Force (1967–68) 6th Task Force (1966–67) 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1952–53) 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1951–52) |
Battles/wars |
Second World War Korean War Vietnam War |
Awards |
Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order |
Relations | James Curnow Hughes (brother) |
Major General Ronald Lawrence Hughes, CBE, DSO (17 September 1920 – 2 February 2003) was a senior infantry officer in the Australian Army, seeing service during the Second World War, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Joining the Australian Army in 1937, after graduating from the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1939 he served in New Guinea and Borneo during the Second World War. He commanded the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR) during the static phase of the war in Korea in 1952–1953. Later, he commanded the 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) in South Vietnam in 1967–68, during some of the heaviest fighting of the war experienced by the Australians. He subsequently filled a number of senior command and staff positions before retiring in 1977.
Hughes was born in Adelaide, South Australia, on 17 September 1920. The son of a light horseman who served in the Gallipoli and Palestine campaigns during the First World War, Hughes joined the Australian Army in 1937 and graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon as a lieutenant in the infantry in 1939.
Following the outbreak of the Second World War, he was posted to the Darwin Mobile Force as a platoon commander in 1940 as the threat of Japanese aggression in the Pacific grew. As a regular officer in the Permanent Military Force Hughes subsequently undertook a variety of regimental, staff and training positions in 1942, including postings to Headquarters 2nd Australian Corps, the Australian Staff College and Advanced Land Headquarters, Brisbane. In 1943 Hughes was posted to Headquarters 1st Australian Corps and was involved in the amphibious landing at Nassau Bay, as a liaison officer with the American forces during the New Guinea campaign. By 1944 he was a company commander in the 2/3rd Battalion fighting the Japanese at Wewak in New Guinea, and was later involved in the amphibious landing on Tarakan in Borneo in 1945 while attached to 26th Brigade. Hughes finished the war as a major serving with the Australian Military Mission in Tokyo, in 1945–46.