Ernest Squires
Lieutenant General Ernest Ker Squires CB, DSO, MC (18 December 1882 – 2 March 1940) was a senior officer in the Australian Army who served as Chief of the General Staff (1939–1940).
Ernest Ker Squires | |
|---|---|
| Born | 18 December 1882 Poona, India |
| Died | 2 March 1940 (aged 57) Melbourne, Australia |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom Australia |
| Service/ | British Army Australian Army |
| Years of service | 1903–1940 |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Commands held | Chief of the General Staff |
| Battles/wars | First World War Third Anglo-Afghan War Second World War |
| Awards | Companion of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Military Cross & 4 Bars[1] Mentioned in dispatches (6) |
Biography edit
Squires was born in India, son of clergyman Rev. Robert Alfred Squires and Elizabeth Anne (nee Ker).[1] Educated at Eton College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Squires was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1903.[2] He transferred to the 3rd Sappers and Miners in India in 1905.[2] On 3 March 1912 he married at Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, Ethel Elsie Risley.[2]
Squires served in the First World War and was wounded at Givenchy in 1914 and at Ypres in 1915.[2] Later that year he saw action again – this time in Mesopotamia, and in the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919.[2] During these five years, he was awarded the Military Cross, the Distinguished Service Order, and mentioned in despatches six times.[1][2][3] In 1932 he was made brigadier on the General Staff of Southern Command.[4]
Squires became Director of Staff Duties at the War Office in 1936, Inspector General of the Australian Army in 1938,[5] and Chief of the General Staff in 1939.[2] His health failed him and he died early the following year after cancer surgery in St Ives Private Hospital, East Melbourne.[2] He was cremated at Springvale Crematorium, Melbourne, and is commemorated on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's Victoria Cremation Memorial there.[1]
References edit
- ^ a b c d "Ernest Ker Squires casualty record". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Lodge, A. B. (1990). "Squires, Ernest Ker (1882–1940)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 12. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. pp. 41–42. ISSN 1833-7538.
- ^ The CWGC casualty record indicates he was mentioned in despatches 5 times, the Australian Dictionary of Biography states he was mentioned 6 times including one in the Anglo-Afghan War that followed WWI.
- ^ Ernest Squires Generals.dk
- ^ Inspector General selected Canberra Times, 19 May 1938