Frank Hassett

General Sir Francis George Hassett, (11 April 1918 – 11 June 2008) was an Australian general who rose to the position of Chief of the Defence Force Staff, the professional head of the Australian Defence Force, serving in this capacity from November 1975 until April 1977.

Hassett was born on 11 April 1918, in the Sydney suburb of Marrickville.

The son of a railway yard manager, he attended Canterbury Boys' High School before leaving at the age of 15 and gaining employment with the Department of Tramways.

Seeking a position at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, he only gained entry after receiving special consideration from Colonel John Lavarack, the Chairman of the College's Selection Board.

Hassett joined the Australian Army in 1935 upon gaining entrance into the Royal Military College, Duntroon.

Hassett began his course at the college in March 1935, aged 16, and soon proved himself a capable cadet.

He excelled at military subjects and excelled in the College rugby, boxing, equestrian and athletics teams, later captaining the rugby XV.

In 1938 he was promoted to under officer, a position marking him as the senior cadet in his company, and commissioned as a lieutenant on 14 December 1938.

Upon graduation, Hassett was posted to the Darwin Mobile Force and given command of a rifle platoon, and then of a Mortar Platoon.

Due to the constraints of the Defence Act, the Darwin Mobile Force was officially designated an artillery unit and he thus began his infantry career in the artillery.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Hassett was posted as adjutant to the 2/3rd Battalion of the 6th Division with effect from 13 December 1939.

The division sailed for the Middle East from Sydney on 10 January 1940, and disembarked in Egypt a little over a month later in preparation for service in the North African Campaign.

Hassett was promoted to captain on 1 May 1940.

After further training in Palestine and Egypt, the battalion took part in an attack on the Italian coastal fortress of Bardia.

Two weeks later, the 2/3rd Battalion took part in the capture of Tobruk by the 6th Division.

Tasked with laying white tapes for a start-line on the eve of the attack, Hassett found a weak point in the Italian front line, where he proceeded to lay the tapes.

In an effort to complete the task before dawn, he began to walk instead of crawling and prodding for mines; one duly blew up, with Hassett suffering shrapnel wounds to his foot.

He was subsequently Mentioned in Despatches for his actions.

Having recovered from his wounds, Hassett was sent to the British Army Staff College at Haifa and was subsequently promoted to major.

Serving with distinction in the early stages of the Second World War, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1942 at the age of 23, and posted as a staff officer for the remainder of the war.

On 18 May 1946 he married Hallie Roberts, with whom he had four children.

In 1948, Hassett was posted as a staff officer to the 2nd Division, remaining in this position until March 1951, when he assumed command of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR).

While in command of the battalion at Holsworthy Barracks, New South Wales, the couple's first child, a daughter named Lyndal, was born.

In 1951, Hassett was appointed to command the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment in Korea, where he led the unit through some of the toughest fighting of the war.

For his leadership and planning during the Battle of Maryang San, he was granted an immediate award of the Distinguished Service Order.

In June 1951, Hassett was sent to Korea to assume command of the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR).

He led the battalion through some of the toughest fighting of the war, which reached its peak in October–December 1951 in Operation Commando.

The operation was designed to strengthen the Allied position, and on 5 October Hassett was tasked with the capture of Hill 317, better known as Maryang San.

Maryang San was a two-mile-long crescent-shaped ridge with irregular extending spurs rising two hundred meters above the valley.

Ideal for defence, it was held by well-entrenched Chinese troops supported by artillery and mortars.

Promoted to brigadier in 1960, Hassett commanded a brigade in Malaya for three years, before returning to Australia and serving in a variety of positions, culminating in his appointment as Chief of the General Staff with the rank of lieutenant general.

Promoted to general after two years in this role, he was appointed Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee, which was reorganised as Chief of the Defence Force Staff the following year.

Hassett died in 2008 at the age of 90.

Shortly afterwards, he was posted as brigade major to the 18th Brigade in Syria.

When Japan entered the war, Hassett planned and controlled the brigade's embarkation from Suez and return to Australia, learning on his arrival that he had been promoted to lieutenant colonel.

At 23, he was the youngest army officer to attain that rank.

Training postings followed before he received an appointment as a staff officer in New Guinea.

By the end of the Second World War, he was chief of staff to the 3rd Division conducting operations against the Japanese forces on the island of Bougainville, without having an operational command.

For his services in the Pacific, Hassett was again Mentioned in Despatches and awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

Returning to Australia after the end of the war, Hassett was posted as an instructor at the Australian Army Staff College in Toowoomba.