Sydney Rowell

Sir Sydney Fairbairn Rowell
Portrait of Lieutenant General Sydney Rowell in 1948
Nickname(s)	Syd
Born	15 December 1894 Lockleys, South Australia
Died	12 April 1975(1975-04-12) (aged 80) South Yarra, Victoria
Allegiance	Australia
Service/branch	Australian Army
Years of service	1914–54
Rank	Lieutenant General
Service number	VX3
Unit	Staff Corps
Commands held	Chief of the General Staff (1950–54) I Corps (1942)
Battles/wars	First World War Gallipoli Campaign Second World War Western Desert Campaign Battle of Greece Syria-Lebanon campaign Kokoda Track campaign Korean War
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companion of the Order of the Bath Mentioned in Despatches (2) Greek War Cross (Class A)
Other work	Director, Smith, Elder & Co. Director and Chairman, Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation

First World War

Second World War

Lieutenant General Sir Sydney Fairbairn Rowell, KBE, CB (15 December 1894 – 12 April 1975) was an Australian soldier who served as Chief of the General Staff from 17 April 1950 to 15 December 1954. As Vice Chief of the General Staff from 8 January 1946 to 16 April 1950, he played a key role in the post-Second World War reorganisation of the Army, and in the 1949 Australian coal strike. However, he is best known as the commander who was dismissed in the Kokoda Track campaign.

As a young officer, Rowell served at Gallipoli but was invalided back to Australia with typhoid fever in January 1916. The end of the war found Rowell junior in rank to his contemporaries with more distinguished war records, but he managed to catch up in the post-war period. Rowell spent five years with the British Army or at British staff colleges, establishing valuable contacts with his British counterparts. In 1939 he was appointed chief of staff of the 6th Division and later I Corps, serving in that capacity in the Battle of Greece and the Syria-Lebanon campaign. In 1942 he commanded I Corps in the Kokoda Track campaign but was sacked. His subsequent rise to become Chief of the General Staff demonstrated that the circumstances of his dismissal in 1942 were indeed extraordinary.

Sydney Fairbairn Rowell was born on 15 December 1894 at Lockleys, South Australia, the fourth son of James Rowell, an English-born soldier and orchardist who served as a senator from 1916 to 1922, and his Australian-born second wife Zella Jane née Williams. He acted as an 'unofficial batman' to his father, who was colonel commanding the South Australian Brigade from 1907 to 1911. Rowell was educated at Adelaide High School and was one of the first cadets to enter the Royal Military College, Duntroon when it opened in 1911.