Allan Boase Lieutenant General Allan Joseph Boase CBE ( 19 February 1894 – 1 January 1964 ) was a soldier in the Australian Army , who served in the First World War and was a general during the Second World War . Early life . Allan Joseph Boase was born on 19 February 1894 at Gympie , in Queensland , to Charles and Harriet Boase . An English immigrant , his father was a journalist . One of three sons , Allan Boase was educated at Brisbane Grammar School and entered the Royal Military College , Duntroon , in the Federal Capital Territory , from which he graduated in 1914 as part of the first class of cadets who were graduated early due to the outbreak of the First World War . Military career . Joining the 9th Battalion , Australian Imperial Force , in August 1914 , he was shipped to Egypt the following month after the outbreak of the First World War . He was amongst the troops landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 , and together with his platoon , fought his way to Lone Pine . Wounded the following day , Boase was evacuated , only rejoining his unit in September . Following the withdrawal of the allied forces from Gallipoli , he was posted to the 12th Battalion , and his unit was posted to the Western Front in June 1916 . Promoted to major at the end of the year , Boase performed staff duties for the remainder of the war within the headquarters of a number of brigade s and the 5th Division . During the inter - war years , Boase went to the Staff College , Camberley , in England . Upon his return to Australia served in a number of staff positions as well as undertaking a military exchange position in India . Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War , he was promoted to colonel . After serving as Commandant of the Command and Staff School in Sydney from November 1939 to April 1940 , he was seconded to the Second Australian Imperial Force ( 2nd AIF ) as quartermaster general of the 7th Division . Dispatched with the division to the Middle East in late 1940 , he was promoted to temporary brigadier and made responsible for the " Base and Lines of Communication Units " around Gaza , where the 2nd AIF had established its base . Boase was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1942 . After spending around eight months in command of 16th Brigade , Boase was transferred to Ceylon , as General Officer Commanding ( GOC ) , AIF , Ceylon in March 1942 . After six months in this role , he returned to Australia as a Major General to the General Staff , First Army , based at Toowoomba , Queensland . The following year , he was placed in command of 11th Division , then in New Guinea . He led them through the Finisterre Range campaign until April 1945 . He saw out the final months of the war as GOC , Western Command , in Perth . Later life . After the war , Boase was the Australian Army and defence representative in London until a temporary promotion to Lieutenant General in 1949 . His final military posting was as GOC , Southern Command , based in Melbourne . He retired in 1951 , remaining in Melbourne with his wife , Williamina , whom he married in 1922 . He died on 1 January 1964 of a coronary occlusion , survived by his wife and two children . His son , Neil , reached the rank of commodore in the Royal Australian Navy .