page_title: Robert Risson
section_title: Military career
hierarchical_section_title: Robert Risson / Military career
caption_attribution_description: English: Original description from Australian War Memorial: TRIPOLI, SYRIA. 1942-05-19. REVIEW OF THE 9TH AUSTRALIAN DIVISION BY HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER. LIEUT-COLONEL R.J.H. RISSON, COMMANDER ROYAL ENGINEERS 9TH AUSTRALIAN DIVISION, SHAKING HANDS WITH THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER BEFORE THE DUKE INSPECTS THE ENGINEERS.
context_page_description: Major General Sir Robert Joseph Henry Risson, CB, CBE, DSO, ED was an Australian engineer, soldier, and tramway administrator. After university he worked for the Brisbane Tramways Trust, later under the auspice of Brisbane City Council, as an engineer and administrator. During World War II Risson served in the Middle East and New Guinea. Following the war he returned to the Brisbane tramways, and became chairman of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board from 1949 to 1970. In this position he defended trams, and is considered a major factor in the survival of Melbourne's tram system. Risson had ties with a myriad of professional and community organisations, including the Freemasons, where he served as Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of Victoria in the mid 1970s. Risson was decorated for his service, holding the rank of major general and being knighted.
context_section_description: Risson's military career started on 15 May 1933, when he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Australian Engineers, which became the Royal Australian Engineers in 1936. He was promoted to captain on 7 September 1936. On 13 October 1939, following the outbreak of the Second World War, Risson enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF), with the rank of major, receiving the AIF service number QX6062.
  Risson was sent to the Middle East, where he commanded the 2/3rd Field Company, and then the 7th Division Engineers from 29 May 1941 to 23 January 1942, engaging in the 1941 Siege of Tobruk, where he played a vital role in improving defences, and then in the Syria–Lebanon campaign. On 24 January 1942 he assumed command of the 9th Division Engineers, which he led in the First Battle of El Alamein and the Second Battle of El Alamein. After the 9th Division returned home in 1943, he was promoted to brigadier on 23 March 1943, and became Chief Engineer of II Corps, participating in the New Guinea campaign. He became Chief Engineer of I Corps on 12 April 1944, when the corps number changed. He was temporarily attached to Allied Land Forces Headquarters (LHQ) from 21 May 1944 to 1 July 1944, but returned to command the engineers in the 1945 Borneo campaign.
  While Risson was overseas, Gwen also participated in the war effort, commanding Brisbane's Women's Air Training Corps in 1940. She stated the goal was for women to do the jobs of men on the ground, "releas[ing] them for actual flying." She was sent to Melbourne for administrative training in 1941.
  Risson continued his military career after the Second World War with the Citizen Military Forces (CMF), commanding the 4th Infantry Brigade. In July 1953 he was promoted to the rank of major general, and appointed General Officer Commanding the 3rd Division. He held that post until 1956, and served as the CMF Member of the Military Board from 1957 to 1958.
caption: Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester shakes hands with Lieutenant Colonel Risson, before inspecting the 9th Division, engineers, Tripoli, Syria, 1942.
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