Alwyn Ragnar Garrett KBE CB (1900 - 1977)

Born 12 Feb 1900 in Northam, Western Australia (Australia)

Ancestors

Husband of Shirley Lorraine (Hunter) Garrett — married 9 Sep 1925 in Glenelg, South Australia, Australia

Died 4 Nov 1977 at age 77 in Mornington, Victoria, Australia

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Biography

Ragnar Garrett KBE CB is Notable.

Lieutenant General Sir Ragnar Garrett KBE CB was a senior commander in the Australian Army. He served as Chief of the General Staff from 1958 to 1960. Following his retirement from an illustrious military career, he held the positions of Principal of the Australian Administrative Staff College (1960-64) and Chairman of the Western Australian Coastal Shipping Commission (1964-70).

BRIG Ragnar Garrett CBE, c1944

formative years

Ragnar Garrett KBE CB was born in the Colony of Western Australia (1832-1900)

Born Alwyn Ragnar Garrett on 12th February 1900 in Northam, Western Australia (Australia), he was the only son of accountant Alwyn Garrett and his Swedish-born wife Maria Wohlfahrt. ^[1] Ragnar, as he was known, attended Guildford Grammar School, before entering the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 1918.

Ragnar married Shirley Hunter, a nurse, on 9th September 1925 in St Peter's Church of England (Anglican Church), Glenelg, South Australia. ^[2]

carving a military career

Following his graduation from the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1921, Ragnar was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Australian Permanent Force's Light Horse. Over the next eighteen years he established himself as a senior officer of the future with a wide variety of postings, including: adjutant/quartermaster of the 23rd Light Horse Regiment; an extra aide-de-camp to the new Governor of South Australia, General Sir Tom Bridges; secondment to the British Army, attached to the 2nd Dragoon Guards in Bangalore, India; re-appointed adjutant/quartermaster of the 23rd Light Horse; adjutant/quartermaster on promotion to Captain, of 3rd Light Horse Regiment at Mount Gambier, South Australia; the 4th Light Horse Regiment at Warrnambool, Victoria; and then Army Headquarters, Melbourne. Promoted to Major, Ragnar completed this time undertaking staff training in England, which he completed just as the Second World War broke out.

Second World War

Ragnar Garrett KBE CB is a Military Veteran.
Served in the Second Australian Imperial Force 1939-1945
2/31st Infantry Battalion; I Corps; II Corps; HQ New Guinea Force

Ragnar transferred to the Second Australian Imperial Force in 1940 for service oveseas during the Second World War, ^[3] and commanded the 2/31st Australian Infantry Battalion, 18th Brigade ^[4] in England before seeing action with Australian brigades in Greece and Crete in 1941. Following his secondment to Savige Force in Greece, under Brigadier Stanley Savige, Savige recorded of the loss of Ragnar, it "affected me more than the bombing ... I was very sorry to lose Garrett, who served me splendidly over the hectic days of the recent past". ^[5]

Promoted to Colonel in 1942, he was posted to 1st Armoured Division and then held senior staff positions with I Corps / New Guinea Force / II Corps in New Guinea in 1943-44 and Bougainville, under now Lieutenant General Savige, in 1944-45. Ragnar was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his distinguished staff work in the south west Pacific. ^[6] He was Mentioned in Despatches, equivalent to today's Commendaion for Gallantry, on 2nd November 1946, gazetted on 6th March 1947.

senior military appointments

After the war, and a further course at Staff College, Camberley, Ragnar was promoted to Brigadier and served two terms as commandant of the Staff College, Queenscliff, in 1946–1947 and 1949–1951. Between these appointments he was posted to Japan with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force. Promoted Major General, he became General Officer Commanding (GOC) Western Command in August 1951 and, in January 1953, Deputy Chief of the General Staff. He was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath for his service as GOC Western Command. ^[7] He was promoted to Lieutenant General in October 1954 and appointed GOC Southern Command, which covered Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania.

Ragnar held the post of Chief of the General Staff (now Chief of Army), capping an illustrious 39-year military career

As Chief of the General Staff (CGS) from March 1958, Ragnar focused on rearmament and reorganisation. He oversaw the acquisition of the FN 7.62mm rifle, the M60 machine gun, the M101 105mm Howitzer, the M113 armoured personnel carrier, and new mortars and radios, that all proved to be great assets during the Vietnam War. He also advocated strongly for the Army to operate its own helicopters and light aircraft, with the Australian Army Aviation Corps eventually being established in July 1968. In recognition of his excellent service as CGS, Ragnar was created Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1959. ^[8]

retirement! what's that?

Following his retirement from the army on 12th February 1960 on his sixtieth birthday, Ragnar became principal of the Australian Administrative Staff College (AASC), Mount Eliza, Victoria until 1964. The AASC was a private institution delivering courses to senior business and government personnel, and gave him a platform to successfully lobby for the reintroduction of conscription ^[9] and for the Army to have a division prepared for war at all times. ^[10]

He served as honorary colonel both of the Royal Australian Regiment and the Royal Western Australia Regiment from 1960 until 1965.

In 1964 Ragnar was appointed chairman of the Western Australian Coastal Shipping Commission, holding that position until 1970.

Aged 77 years, he passed away on 4th November 1977 in Mornington, Victoria. ^[11] His wife having predeceased him, Ragnar was survived by his son and daughter.

Sources

1. ↑ Western Australia Birth Index #tbc
2. ↑ South Australia Marriage Index #304/725 1925
3. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: Alwyn Ragnar Garrett; accessed 16 Jun 2018
4. ↑ Australian War Memorial unit record: 2/31st Australian Infantry Battalion; accessed 16 Jun 2018
5. ↑ Keating, Gavin Michael. The Right Man for the Right Job: Lieutenant General Sir Stanley Savige as a Military Commander. Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, Victoria, 2006. ISBN 978-0-19-555332-1
6. ↑ Australian Honours: CBE; accessed 10 May 2019
7. ↑ Australian Honours: CB; accessed 10 May 2019
8. ↑ Australian Honours: KBE; accessed 10 May 2019
9. ↑ The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995) Wed 6 Nov 1963 Page 20 ARMY CALL-UP SUGGESTION
10. ↑ The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995) Tue 5 Nov 1963 Page 3 Defence Spending 'Should Increase'
11. ↑ Victoria Death Index #27102/1977

See also

• Grey, Jeffrey. Garrett, Sir Alwyn Ragnar (1900–1977). Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1996; accessed online 16 June 2018.
• Keating, Gavin Michael (2006). The Right Man for the Right Job: Lieutenant General Sir Stanley Savige as a Military Commander. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-555332-1.
• Wikipedia profile: Ragnar Garrett; accessed 16 Jun 2018.