Major General Thomas Williams CMG DSO was an officer in the Australian Army who held senior administrative appointments in the Second World War. Williams served as Master-General of Ordnance from the outbreak of war in 1939 until 1940, when he was appointed Chief Military Advisor to the Ministry of Munitions. Following his retirement from the army in 1944, he was the Australian representative to the Imperial War Graves Commission.
Thomas Rhys Williams was born on 10th April 1884 in Bundaberg, Queensland (Australia). He was the son of Thomas Williams and Amelia Perske. [1]
Upon completion of his formal education, Wiliams set his mind to a career in engineering. He was an Associate of the Ballarat School of Mines (SMB) graduating as a Mining Engineer and a First Class Mining Manager in 1909.He then joined the Australian Army Engineers and, when the First World War broke out, transferred to the Australian Imperial Force. One of his early tasks was to find a clean fresh water supply at ANZAC Cove, Gallipoli. In France, he became commander of the 3rd Division Engineers and was later appointed Companion or the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (CMG) and Distinguished Service Order (DSO), and awarded the Croix de Guerre (Belgium). [2]
During the Second World War, Williams was Master-General of Ordinance from 1939 to 1940, then Chief Military Advisor to the Director-General of Munitions from 1941 to 1944 when he retired from the Army, aged sixty years. [3]
As a veteran he became Australia's representative on the Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission.
He passed away on 23rd October 1950 in Victoria and his ashes placed in Springvale Cemetery. [4] He was survived by his wife, Ethel, and their daughter.
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Categories: 3rd Division Engineers, Australian Imperial Force, World War I | Royal Australian Engineers | Australian Army Generals | Australian Army Generals, World War II | Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George | Distinguished Service Order | Mentioned in Despatches | Bundaberg, Queensland | Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Springvale, Victoria | Australia, Notables in the Military | Notables | Anzacs, World War I