Years of service 1903–1940 Rank Lieutenant general | Name Ernest Squires | |
Allegiance United Kingdom Australia Battles/wars First World WarThird Anglo-Afghan WarSecond World War Awards Companion of the Order of the BathDistinguished Service OrderMilitary CrossMentioned in Despatches (6) Service/branch | ||
Lieutenant General Ernest Ker Squires CB, DSO, MC (18 December 1882 – 2 March 1940) was a senior officer in the Australian Army who served as Chief of the General Staff (1939–1940).
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Military career
Educated at Eton College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Squires was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1903. He transferred to the 3rd Sappers and Miners in India in 1905.
He served in the First World War and was wounded at Givenchy in 1914 and at Ypres in 1915. Later that year he saw action again – this time in Mesopotamia. In 1932 he was made Brigadier on the General Staff of Southern Command.
He became Director of Staff Duties at the War Office in 1939, Inspector General of the Australian Army in 1938, and Chief of the General Staff in 1939. His health failed him and he died early the following year.
Family
In 1912 he married Ethel Elsie Risley.