Allegiance Australia Service/branch Australian Army Name Ronald McNicoll | Rank Major General Years of service 1923–64 | |
Born 15 September 1906
Melbourne, Victoria ( 1906-09-15 ) Battles/wars Second World War
Korean War Relations Brigadier General Sir Walter McNicoll (father)
Vice Admiral Sir Alan McNicoll (brother) Died September 18, 1996, Melbourne, Australia Books The Royal Australian Engineers Awards Order of the British Empire, Order of Australia, Mentioned in dispatches | ||
Battles and wars World War II, Korean War | ||
Major General Ronald Ramsay McNicoll, (15 September 1906 – 18 September 1996) was an Australian Army general who served in the Royal Australian Engineers.
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Early life
The son of Sir Walter McNicoll and elder brother of Sir Alan McNicoll, he was born in Melbourne and completed his schooling at Scots College before taking up an appointment as a staff cadet at the Royal Military College, Duntroon. After graduating from Duntroon in 1926, he was granted the rank of lieutenant in the engineers and undertook a civilian engineering degree.
Career
During the Second World War, McNicoll saw active service in the Middle East and in Europe, including a period on exchange with the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, helping to plan the D-Day landings. He was Mentioned in Despatches as a major of engineers while serving in the 6th Division.
After the war, he was steadily promoted, eventually reaching the rank of major general before retiring from the military in 1964. He later wrote three volumes of the Royal Australian Engineers corps history, covering the periods from colonial Australia to the Second World War. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1957, and a Member of the Order of Australia in 1982.