General Sir Thomas Blamey, Commander-in-Chief of Australian Military Forces during World War II, was our highest-ranking soldier and arguably our most controversial.

Blamey was an abrasive and shrewd commander, who could act both decisively and brutally, creating enemies within and outside the military. That reputation, encouraged in the years after the war by his rivals, has followed him ever since and, unlike many other military heroes, his contributions to Australia’s defence have been downplayed.

In this re-evaluation of our most senior military commander, Brent Taylor traces Blamey’s career, describing the highs and the lows, and dispassionately applies modern business benchmarks to calculate his success as a leader: how many campaigns won? And, especially, how many lives saved? In Taylor’s estimation more than 30,000 Diggers’ lives.

Without glossing over Blamey’s prickly character or the controversial incidents he was involved in, Taylor assesses how Blamey – schooled in battle under John Monash – dealt with the towering political and military leaders of the day, including a domineering General Douglas MacArthur, an antagonistic Australian government, a wily British prime minister and a ruthless Japanese command, to lead Australian troops to success while also keeping them safe.

In challenging the popular view of Blamey as a testy, aloof man out of touch with and disloyal to his troops, Taylor declares him a hero who stood up to foreign agendas to get the best outcomes for the Diggers and his country.

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The Author

Brent D. Taylor is an engineer and businessman, specialising in quantitative research and statistics, including benchmarking studies for management in the private and public sectors. His focus on Thomas Blamey stems from a keen long-term interest in military history and high-impact leaders. He is a member of Military History & Heritage Victoria and has been mentored on this project by senior military officers. Brent lives in Richmond in Melbourne.