Baton: Field Marshal Sir Thomas Blamey

Silver gilt field marshal's baton. Both ends are wreathed in a laurel, Tudor rose, thistle and shamrock pattern and are hallmarked. The upper end of the baton is surmounted by a free-standing silver gilt figure of St George killing the dragon. The body of the baton is covered with crimson velvet studded with silver gilt lions. The flat base is engraved: 'FROM His Majesty GEORGE VI King OF GREAT BRITAIN, IRELAND AND THE BRITISH DOMINIONS BEYOND THE SEAS, TO FIELD- MARSHALL SIR THOMAS ALBERT BLAMEY, C.B.E., K.C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., E.D., AUSTRALIAN MILITARY FORCES 1950.'

Thomas Albert Blamey, born near Wagga Wagga, New South Wales in 1884, became the first Australian army officer to reach the rank of field marshal. Originally a teacher, Blamey received a commission in the Commonwealth Cadet Forces in 1906 and was posted to Melbourne.

In 1910 he transferred to the Australian Military Forces and was promoted to captain. He graduated from the Staff College at Quetta in India in 1913, was in England when the First World War began and joined the general staff of the 1st Australian Division in Egypt. Blamey landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915; in July he was promoted to temporary lieutenant colonel and returned to Egypt to help raise the 2nd Australian Division.

On the Western Front, Blamey served as General Staff Officer in the 1st Division until June 1918 when he was promoted to temporary brigadier general and became Chief of Staff of the Australian Corps. After the war Blamey received several important postings, including one to London as Colonel, General Staff and Australia's representative on the Imperial General Staff.

By war’s end, Blamey's actions had been recognised with a number of awards: the Distinguished Service Order in 1917, Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1918, the Companion of the Order of the Bath and the French Croix de Guerre in 1919. He was also Mentioned in Despatches on seven occasions.

In 1925, he was appointed Chief of the Australian General Staff. Shortly afterwards he left the regular army to become Victoria's commissioner of police and transferred to the Citizens Military Force (CMF). He was promoted to major general in the CMF in 1931. In 1935 Blamey was made Knight Bachelor for his services in connection to the centenary celebrations of the founding of Melbourne. The following year he was appointed Commander of the Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem. Blamey's tenure as police commissioner ended in 1936.

Soon after the outbreak of the Second World War, Blamey was promoted lieutenant general and given command of the 6th Division. The following year he became commander of the Australian Corps and sailed for the Middle East. On 23 April 1941 he was appointed deputy commander-in-chief of British Forces in the Middle East. In September he was promoted to the rank of general, and on 1 January 1942 was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath.

In March 1942, Blamey returned to Melbourne as Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Military Forces and, under US General Douglas MacArthur, became commander of Allied land forces in the Pacific to counter the Japanese thrust. Overshadowed by the American and resented by many senior Australian officers, Blamey encountered numerous difficulties. His removal of several senior officers under pressure from MacArthur remains controversial.

Blamey conducted a series of successful offensives in New Guinea in 1943. On 28 May he was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of "gallant and distinguished services in the South West Pacific Area". He was, however, criticised late in the war when Australians were involved in what were regarded as unnecessary and costly operations. He received the Efficiency Decoration for his long military service on 3 February 1944.

For his conduct during the war he was also recognised by the Greek War Cross, the United States Distinguished Service Cross, and the Dutch Grand Cross of the Order of Orange Nassau (Military). On 2 September, 1945 on board USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Blamey signed the Japanese surrender document on behalf of Australia.

Blamey retired to Melbourne after the war and was promoted to field marshal on 8 June 1950. He was seriously ill in Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital when he received his field marshal’s baton from Governor General, William McKell, on 16 September 1950. He died on 27 May 1951.