Eric Plant Major General Eric Clive Pegus Plant CB , DSO & Bar , OBE ( 23 April 1890 – 17 May 1950 ) was an officer in the Australian Army who served during the First and Second World Wars . Early life . Eric Clive Pegus Plant was born in Charters Towers , Queensland , on 23 April 1890 to English immigrants . His paternal uncle was Edmund Plant , a Queensland politician . He attended Brisbane Grammar School , and developing an interest in military life , became a cadet . This led to his commissioning into the 9th Infantry ( Moreton ) Regiment , a Citizens Militia Force unit , in 1908 . Military career . In 1912 , Plant joined the Australian Army , and was attached to the Administrative and Instructional Staff in Victoria as a lieutenant . He would later be assigned to the 15th Light Horse Regiment . First World War . Following the outbreak of the First World War , Plant transferred to the Australian Imperial Force ( AIF ) . He was assigned as aide - de - camp to Major General William Bridges , the commander of the AIF , and shipped out to Egypt in October 1914 . His duties as aide - de - camp to Major General Bridges ended in March 1915 , when Plant was assigned to 9th Battalion as assistant adjutant . He landed with the battalion at Gallipoli on 25 April , advancing as far as ' Third Ridge ' with his party of men before being forced to retreat to a safer position for fear of being cut off . Having been promoted to captain following the Gallipoli landings , he was wounded in the hand on 3 June and left Gallipoli for treatment before returning to the battalion over a month later . Later in the campaign he suffered enteric fever , which necessitated his evacuation to England via Malta . Having recovered , Plant was promoted to brigade major in March 1916 and assigned to 6th Brigade , then serving on the Western Front . He worked closely with the brigade commander , Brigadier General John Gellibrand , during the brigade ' s various actions during 1916 and early 1917 , including the Battle of Pozières . For his work , he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order ( DSO ) . He was awarded a bar to his DSO in 1917 for his leadership during the Second Battle of Bullecourt , in which he rallied straggling infantry under heavy artillery fire . From July , he would serve with the headquarters of 4th Division . When the war ended , he was transferred to the Repatriation and Demobilization Department of the army . For his wartime service , he was awarded the Croix de guerre and had been mentioned in despatches a total of six times . He was also made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his service with the 4th Division . Interwar period . Plant , having been made a temporary lieutenant colonel , eventually returned to Australia in July 1920 , along with his wife Oona Hunter Brown , whom he had married in London in early 1918 . His service with the AIF ended shortly after his return , and he was reduced to his previous rank and transferred to the Staff Corps . After a spell with the Staff College at Camberley , he held a series of staff posts until 1937 , at which time he took up the post of director of military training . Second World War . Plant was a temporary brigadier and the commandant of the Royal Military College at Duntroon when the war broke out in September 1939 . Put in command of the 24th Brigade , which had been formed in July 1940 and allocated to the 9th Division , he embarked with the Second Australian Imperial Force ( 2AIF ) for the Middle East later that year . In March 1941 , the commander of the 2AIF , General Thomas Blamey , promoted Plant to a temporary major general and appointed him commander of the rear echelon area in the Middle East while he himself was supervising the 2AIF forces in the Greece theatre . On 24 June , Plant , reverting to his previous rank , replaced Brigadier Alfred Baxter - Cox as commander of the 25th Brigade and led it through the remainder of the Syrian Campaign . He earned his seventh mention in despatches for his period in command of the brigade . When the Japanese Empire entered the war , raising fears of a possible Japanese invasion of Australia , he was one of a number of experienced brigadiers recalled to Australia for important positions in the army forces stationed on the home front . Plant was returned to his temporary rank of major general and appointed commander of the 5th Military District , also referred to as Western Command . This responsibility covered Western Australia . From April 1942 , he was responsible for the Line of communication in Victoria and then in New South Wales for the remainder of the war . Later life . Plant retired from the army in August 1946 , with his rank of major general having been substantive . Just before his retirement , he was presented with the insignia of a Companion of the Order of the Bath at Government House in Sydney . In 1947 , he was made an Officer of the Order of St . John of Jerusalem . Later in life , he developed cancer and this eventually led to his death on 17 May 1950 in Sydney at the relatively young age of 60 . He was survived by his wife and two sons .