caption serviceyears servicenumber branch commands death_place death_date birth_place allegiance awards battles birth_date rank image article_title name
lieutenant general henry wynter 1907 & ndash ; 1945 qx6150 australian army 9th division northern command eastern command heidelberg , victoria 7 february 1945 gin gin , queensland australia companion the order of st michael and st george distinguished service of order mention in despatches -lrb- 4 -rrb- the order of the bath companion of first world war 6 june 1886 lieutenant general henry wynter.jpg henry wynter
 henry douglas wynter
henry wynter

lieutenant general henry douglas wynter , cb , cmg , dso -lrb- 6 june 1886 -- 7 february 1945 -rrb- was a regular australian army officer who rose to the rank of lieutenant general during world war ii .
official historian gavin long described him as `` perhaps the clearest and most profound thinker the australian army of his generation had produced . ''
wynter joined the australian army as a reservist in 1907 before becoming a regular officer in 1911 .
on duty in queensland when the great war broke out in 1914 , he joined the 11th infantry brigade in 1916 as its brigade major .
he served on a series of staff posts on the western front .
after the war attended the staff college , camberley and imperial defence college .
wynter 's public criticism of the government 's singapore strategy led to his being reduced in rank and sent to queensland .
in 1938 he assumed command of the army command and staff college .
in 1940 he accepted a reduction in rank to become the deputy adjutant and quartermaster general of i corps .
wynter embarked for the middle east in may 1940 with the advance party of i corps but the convoy he was travelling with was diverted to the united kingdom .
he was appointed to command the aif there , with a key role in the defence of southern england .
in october 1940 his force became the nucleus of a new 9th division , which he was appointed to command .
ill-health forced him to return to australia , where he became lieutenant general administration .
