Victor Stantke

Victor Stantke
Major General Victor Stantke, January 1944
Born	15 August 1886 Fitzroy, Victoria
Died	1967
Allegiance	Australia
Service/branch	Australian Army
Years of service	1911–46
Rank	Major General
Commands held	Queensland Lines of Communication Area
Battles/wars	First World War Second World War
Awards	Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Major General Victor Paul Hildebrandt Stantke, CBE (15 August 1886 – 1967) was a senior officer in the Australian Army, serving during the First World War and Second World War. His appointments were mainly to staff and administrative postings, including holding the position of Adjutant-General from 1940 to 1943, and commander Queensland Lines of Communication Area from 1943 to 1946.

Stantke was born in Fitzroy, Victoria, on 15 August 1886. Educated at the University of Melbourne, he served in the Australian Military Forces as a senior cadet from 1906, and was commissioned through this scheme, reaching the rank of captain by 1909. However, after working as teacher at Brighton Grammar School, in 1911 he relinquished his previous rank and joined the Permanent Military Forces. In the Permanent Force, he was appointed to the Administrative and Instructional Staff (A & I Staff), as a lieutenant, before transferring to the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) during the First World War, and being posted as the adjutant of the 29th Battalion on the Western Front during 1917 and 1918. Promoted to captain, in 1919 he served as Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General, 1st Division before returning to Australia later that year.

In the inter-war years Stantke returned to the Permanent Force and as a member of the Australian Staff Corps held various staff and administrative posts. In 1928 Stanke, by then a major, was part of a committee which examined the mechanization of the Australian Military Forces. Later postings included that of Director, Organisation and Personnel Services, and Director, Mobilisation at Army Headquarters in Melbourne from 1933 to 1935, during which time he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. In 1935 he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. In 1936 and 1937 he undertook training in Great Britain at the Senior Officers' School in Sheerness. From 1937 to 1939 he was posted to the 4th Military District as both the Assistant Adjutant & Quartermaster-General and as Instructional Group Commander, before being posted to same positions in the 2nd Military District in 1939.