Cyril Clowes Lieutenant General Cyril Albert Clowes CBE , DSO , MC ( 11 March 1892 – 19 May 1968 ) was an Australian soldier . He won the first land victory against the Japanese in the Second World War , at the Battle of Milne Bay , New Guinea . Like many other senior officers involved in the Papuan campaign , he was then transferred to a less important posting by General Sir Thomas Blamey . First World War . Clowes was born at Warwick in Queensland , and entered the Royal Military College , Duntroon in 1911 . In August 1914 he graduated and was appointed lieutenant in the Australian Imperial Force ( AIF ) with a commission in the Permanent Military Force . Posted to the 1st Field Artillery Brigade , he landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 , serving as a forward observation officer and directing naval gunfire against Turkish positions . He was wounded at Gallipoli . After he recuperated Clowes was promoted to captain in the 2nd Divisional Artillery in Egypt during January 1916 . On the Western Front during 1916 , Clowes served as the 2nd Division ' s Trench Mortar Officer and was awarded the Military Cross . He received a promotion to major in January 1917 and the following year was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his work at Villers - Bretonneux . He returned to Australia in April 1919 , and left the AIF in late June . Inter war years . In 1920 Clowes took up a post as instructor at Duntroon , and remained there until 1925 . That year he married Eva Magennis , and moved to Brisbane . There Clowes undertook staff , training , and command duties until 1930 . He filled similar positions in Sydney and Darwin until , in 1936 , he was promoted to lieutenant colonel . He went to England and completed a gunnery staff course , before returning to Australia as the Chief Instructor at Sydney ' s School of Artillery . In August 1939 he was given command of Australia ' s 6th Military District , receiving a promotion to colonel . Second World War . When World War II began , Clowes was made a temporary brigadier in the AIF , and in April 1940 was appointed commander of the Royal Australian Artillery , I Corps . Clowes performed very well under pressure in directing the fighting withdrawal at Pinios Gorge , Greece , in April 1941 . The Germans were attempting to drive a wedge between Greek units and the allied force sent to their aid . Clowes was successful in holding the gorge against a strong German tank attack , until the situation on other parts of the front stabilised . Although Greece fell and the campaign was a failure , Clowes ' tactics minimised casualties in the withdrawal of the allied force . This battle saw the beginning of a problem that would dog Clowes ' career – disputes between his superior General Sir Thomas Blamey , and Blamey ' s Chief of Staff , Colonel Sydney Rowell , a personal friend of Clowes . Clowes returned to Australia in January 1942 , was promoted to temporary Major General , and given command of the 1st Division . Milne Force . In May 1942 General Douglas MacArthur , Allied Commander in Chief of the South West Pacific Area ( C in C SWPA ) , ordered the construction of an airfield at Milne Bay , at the eastern tip of New Guinea . His intention was to use this and other new airfields to attempt the reconquest of Rabaul , taken by the Japanese early in the war . However the airfield would also be a prize for the Japanese to attack . Once taken it could be a base for bombing sorties over the cities of south eastern Australia . MacArthur requested Thomas Blamey send troops to secure the construction site . Initially a militia brigade was dispatched . As building progressed this was progressively reinforced with regular troops . Once buildup was complete , the garrison assumed the name Milne Force , and Clowes , now promoted to Major General , was given command . He reached Milne Bay and assumed command of the Australian troops there just four days before the Japanese began landing , beginning the Battle of Milne Bay . Battle of Milne Bay . The Japanese made their initial landing on 25 August 1942 under Commander Hayashi . By dawn of 26 August , the Japanese had reached KB Mission . A counter attack by the 61st Militia Battalion drove the Japanese from KB Mission , however after six hours of intense fighting , the militia withdrew to the Gama River . Clowes ordered the Australian 2 / 10th Infantry Battalion to the Gama River , where they attacked . The Japanese troops and the supporting tanks inflicted severe casualties on the 2 / 10th , which was forced to retreat to north of No . 3 Strip ( under construction ) , on 27 August . The 25th Battalion held the Japanese back and a two day lull followed . On 29 August , 768 Japanese marine reinforcements were landed with Commander Minoru Yano , who took over from Hayashi . On 31 August at 3 : 00am , three banzai charge s were repelled at No . 3 Strip with withering machine gun and mortar fire from Milne Force . The Australians launched a counter offensive at 9 : 00am on 31 August , and pushed the Japanese along the north coast of Milne Bay . By 4 September Japanese resistance was suicidal in intensity . On 5 September , the Japanese high command ordered a withdrawal . On 6 September the offensive reached the main camp of the Japanese landing force . That night most Japanese survivors were evacuated . Some , trying to reach the Japanese beachhead at Buna through the mountains , were intercepted and routed . Difficulties at Milne Bay . Milne Bay is a very high rainfall area , and the all - pervading mud made transport a constant problem for Clowes . He had no barges or four - wheel drive vehicles for moving troops around . Milne Force included the highly trained 18th Infantry Brigade of the Australian 7th Division , but also the inexperienced and poorly - equipped 7th Militia Brigade . Of the total force of 8 , 824 , only about 4 , 500 were infantry . Several times during the battle , urgent signals arrived from MacArthur and Blamey , warning of imminent Japanese reinforcements , and urging him to pursue and exterminate the enemy landing force immediately . However , Clowes ' original orders confirmed that his priority was holding the completed airstrip at Gili Gili . He maintained a defensive perimeter there which was never penetrated , even while taking the fight to the enemy at some distance from this base . MacArthur was responding to inaccurate intelligence . Clowes had no choice but to heed the new intelligence , and try to relocate his forces to deal with threats that in fact did not materialise . At one point Rowell received orders from Blamey that the " landed force must be attacked with greatest vigor and destroyed as soon as possible " . Rowell refused to relay this to Clowes , and instead wrote " " Confident you have the situation well in hand and will administer stern punishment " . Relieved of command . MacArthur and Thomas Blamey determined that rather than being commended and rewarded for the victory , Clowes should be relieved of his command and sidelined for the duration of the war , for showing insufficient " vigour " . Blamey wrote to Sydney Rowell , now Clowes ' superior officer in Port Moresby : Blamey subsequently sacked Rowell and shortly after , Rowell ' s friend Clowes . Clowes returned to Australia in 1943 and held various postings until the end of the war . Later life . Clowes retired from the Army with the rank of lieutenant general in June 1949 . His chief staff officer at Milne Bay , Colonel Fred Chilton , said he was He was known as " Silent " Cyril Clowes . In " A Bastard of a Place : The Australians in Papua " , Australian historian Peter Brune explained why ; Clowes died on 19 May 1968 at Repatriation General Hospital , Heidelberg , Melbourne .