Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Alex Bath "Bandy" MacDonald (13 April 1898 – 12 May 1981) was an

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

officer.

Family and education

MacDonald was born in

Walcha, New South Wales Walcha () is a town at the south-eastern edge of the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. The town serves as the seat of Walcha Shire. Walcha is located by road from Sydney at the intersection of the Oxley Highway and Thunderbolt ...

, son of Emily (née Bath) and Alexander Mark MacDonald. He was educated at

Newington College , motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge , location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = A ...

from 1913 until 1916.

Military service

MacDonald served during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and commanded the Jungle Training Centre and

Darwin Mobile Force The Darwin Mobile Force was a mixed force of infantry and artillery raised by the Australian Army prior to the Second World War. It was the first regular infantry field force in the Australian military,Phillips 2000, p. 8. although due to legislat ...

. At war's end he became Director of the

Australian Cadet Corps The Australian Army Cadets (AAC) is the youth military program and organisation of the Australian Army, tasked with supporting participants to contribute to society, fostering interest in defence force careers, and developing support for the ...

and then was senior Australian military observer with the United Nations Commission for Indonesia. He was discharged from the army on April 13, 1950. Hi
portrait
is held by the

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in wars involving the Commonwealth of Australia and some conflicts involving pe ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacDonald, Alex Bath 1898 births 1981 deaths Australian Army officers Australian military personnel of World War II People educated at Newington College