Brigadier Oliver David Jackson, DSO, OBE (1919–2004) Brigadier Oliver David Jackson, one of the ‘elder statesmen’ of the Royal Australian Regiment (RAR), died on 7 May 2004. Jackson has the distinction of being the only officer to command all three original RAR battalions and, over almost forty years, he led Australian infantrymen in five theatres of war: the Middle East, New Guinea, Japan, Korea and Vietnam. Jackson was in command of the Australian Task Force in South Vietnam when it fought, and won, its …

Major General Duncan Francis AO, OBE (1937–2004) Major General Duncan Francis, who made a significant contribution to the formation and development of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force and to materiel management in the Australian Army and defence organisation, died in Canberra on 26 October 2004 after a short illness. Major General Francis was born on 20 March 1937 in Perth, Western Australia, and was the son of Lieutenant Colonel Duncan Francis. Educated at Aquinas College, he chose to follow his father …

Brigadier Noel Russell (Chic) Charlesworth, DSO (1928–2004) Noel Russell ‘Chic’ Charlesworth was born on 3 January 1928 in Balgowlah in New South Wales. In 1945, after completing his secondary education at Sydney High School during which time he played rugby union for Sydney’s Combined High Schools, Charlesworth applied for a cadetship at the Royal Military College (RMC), Duntroon, and entered the College in February 1946. Charlesworth’s intake was the last of the three-year wartime courses and he …

Introduction Once again, the Retrospect article for this issue of the AAJ is drawn from the pages of The Commonwealth Military Journal . The article is based on an address delivered to the United Services Institution of Victoria in 1911 by Colonel, the Honourable, James Whiteside McCay, Director of Intelligence, Commonwealth Military Forces. McCay’s subject was ‘The True Principles of Australia’s Defence’. The principles governing the defence of Australia was a topic much in vogue in 1911. The …

Introduction In most armed forces, the uniform is such an important aspect of the collective identity that failure to wear it properly is considered a serious breach of military discipline. This article will discuss the psychological significance of military uniforms, examining why they are such a quintessential part of the military, and what purposes they serve in enabling the armed forces to achieve their objectives. Military Uniforms as Emblems of Status The most readily apparent purpose of uniforms is …

Editor's Introduction Since the early 1990s, many hundreds of Australian Defence Force personnel have had experience as peacekeepers in humanitarian interventions in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. However, the reality is that the military are often the last group to arrive in areas devastated by war, genocide and famine. Aid workers from a variety of non-government organisations (NGOs) are usually the first on the scene. At great personal risk, such people work to bring aid to distressed populations long …

In contemporary military doctrine, the operational commander’s intent conveys the end-state, or the desired result, of an overall campaign. This focus is derived from the German Army’s concept of Auftragstaktik (mission-based tactics or, as it is currently termed in Australian Army doctrine, ‘mission command’). In 1940, General Heinz Guderian stated the purpose of the concept with characteristic precision: ‘Good-looking operation orders are immaterial. What counts are clearly stated intentions which can be …

‘La Garde recule! ’ The unbelievable news spread like wildfire through the ranks of the French army... [which] stood momentarily aghast. Sensing his opportunity, Wellington waved his hat, and 40 000 Allied troops, led by Vivian and Vandeleur, swept forward from Mont-St-Jean with a mighty cheer and flung themselves against the dazed ranks of the spellbound Armée du Nord . A moment later, the cohesion of the French army snapped, and with cries of ‘ Sauvé qui peut ’ and ‘ Trahison! ’ unit after unit dissolved …

* This article is based largely on extracts from the author’s book entitled Signals: Swift and Sure—A History of the Royal Australian Corps of Signals 1947–1972, Royal Australian Corps of Signals Committee, Melbourne, 1999. With the Australian Defence Force’s (ADF) heightened operational tempo over recent years, analysis has been focused on the role of traditional combat arms and combat support elements during military deployments. Soldiers have given comparatively little thought to one of the most …

* The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not those of the British Ministry of Defence or of any other institution. An early version of this paper was first given to the Oxford University Strategic Studies Group at All Souls College, Oxford in November 2002. Until recently, discussions of the relationship between the media, strategy and military culture appeared only briefly, or by inference, in mainstream Western military thought. The neglect of this relationship is remarkable …