Image Gallery: June 2008
GENERAL SIR FRANCIS HASSETT AC, KBE, CB, DSO, LVO
Francis George Hassett was born in Sydney on April 11th 1918. After completing his education at Canterbury High School, he entered the Royal Military College Duntroon, graduating in 1938. His first posting was to the Darwin Mobile Force, where he commanded the Mortar Platoon. Ironically, due to the constraints of the Defence Act, the DMF was officially designated an artillery unit and he thus began his infantry career in the artillery.
The experience gained in this unusual Unit clearly prepared him well for the demands of war service. The outbreak of the war saw the then Captain Hassett posted as Adjutant to the 2/3rd Infantry Battalion. His career progressed rapidly, to Brigade Major of the 18th Brigade and, at 23 years of age, to Lieutenant Colonel and a senior staff job on the headquarters of the II Australian Corps. He finished the war as GSO I of the 3rd Australian Division on Bougainville. He was Mentioned in Despatches twice and wounded during the Libyan campaign while serving with the 2/3rd.
After the War, he was able to hone his professional education with a stint as Instructor at the Staff College before the Korean War saw him thrust once more into battle. After briefly commanding 1RAR in Australia, he took command of 3RAR, part of the 28th Commonwealth Brigade in Korea, on 6 July 1951 and led the Battalion through some of the toughest fighting of the War. This reached its peak in October-December 1951 in Operation Commando. In this operation, designed to strengthen the Allied position, the Commonwealth Division’s objective was a line of hills to its front – 3 RAR’s being Hill 317, perhaps better known as Maryang San. With careful and innovative planning and decisive leadership, 3 RAR achieved where several previous attempts by American forces had failed.
Following Korea, he spent several years in key instructional and administrative posts before returning, in 1960, to the 28th Commonwealth Brigade, now in Malaya, as its commander. The Brigade was a key part of the Far East Strategic Reserve. On leaving Malaya, he attended the Imperial Defence College in London then spent a period as DCGS and 1968 to 1970 as GOC Northern Command.
However, in the words of the entry in the Oxford Companion to Australian Military History, his most important overall contributions to the Army were still to come. In 1970-71, he headed the Army Reorganisation Planning Staff and was instrumental in a major overhaul of the Army’s internal structures. Having proposed the new structures, he was then appointed Vice-CGS and charged with implementing the changes. In 1973, he was appointed CGS of the revitalised Australian Army and in 1975 Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.
After a diverse and demanding career, General Hassett retired in April 1977 and lives in Canberra. He has published a number of learned articles and papers on Defence topics.