Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Alexander Jobson, (2 April 1875 – 7 November 1933) was a senior

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 during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Early life and career

Alexander Jobson was born on 2 April 1875 in

Clunes, Victoria Clunes is a town in Victoria, Australia, 36 kilometres north of Ballarat, in the Shire of Hepburn. At the 2016 census it had a population of 1,728. History Pre-colonial The Djadja Wurrung people were the first inhabitants of the region ...

. He was educated in the public system and at the age of 14 he started working as a junior clerk with the

Australian Mutual Provident Society AMP is a financial services company in Australia and New Zealand providing superannuation and investment products, financial advice, and banking products (through AMP Banking) including home loans and savings accounts. Its headquarters is in ...

(AMP) in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. He studied

accountancy Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "language ...

and qualified as an Associate of the

Institute of Actuaries The Institute of Actuaries was one of the two professional bodies which represented actuaries in the United Kingdom. The institute was based in England, while the other body, the Faculty of Actuaries, was based in Scotland. While the Institute and ...

and a Fellow of the Australian Corporation of Public Accountants. Jobson moved to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1902 and became

actuary An actuary is a business professional who deals with the measurement and management of risk and uncertainty. The name of the corresponding field is actuarial science. These risks can affect both sides of the balance sheet and require asset man ...

for an American firm. He established his own business as an accountant and actuary in 1906. From 1910 to 1916, he also wrote a financial column in the ''Sydney Sun''. Jobson enlisted in the Scottish Rifles in August 1898 and was commissioned as a full lieutenant on 2 December 1899. He was promoted to captain on 29 August 1902. After moving to Sydney he joined the New South Wales Scottish Rifles with the rank of lieutenant on 1 January 1903 and was promoted to captain again on 1 July. He was promoted major on 13 September 1909. He transferred to the 25th Infantry on 1 July 1912 and on 1 July 1913 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel; and appointed to command the 34th Infantry Regiment.

First World War

Jobson joined the Australian Imperial Force on 10 February 1916 with the rank of colonel and was given command of the 9th Infantry Brigade. He was promoted to temporary brigadier general on 1 May 1916, shortly before departing Sydney. He arrived in London via South Africa and

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

on 11 July. The brigade trained on

Salisbury Plain Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in the south western part of central southern England covering . It is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and largely lies wi ...

before moving to France in November. The brigade entered the area of the line known as "Nursery Sector" at

Armentières Armentières (; vls, Armentiers) is a commune in the Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is part of the Métropole Européenne de Lille. The motto of the town is ''Pauvre mais fière'' (Poor but proud). Geogra ...

on 26 November. Twice, during the absence of Major General

John Monash General Sir John Monash, (; 27 June 1865 – 8 October 1931) was an Australian civil engineer and military commander of the First World War. He commanded the 13th Infantry Brigade before the war and then, shortly after its outbreak, became co ...

in 1917, Jobson became acting commander of the 3rd Division. His brigade was involved in a number of raids and Jobson was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

for his part. At the

Battle of Messines Battle of Messines may refer to: *Battle of Messines (1914) *Battle of Messines (1917) The Battle of Messines (7–14 June 1917) was an attack by the British Second Army (General Sir Herbert Plumer), on the Western Front, near the village of ...

in June 1917, Jobson's planning and performance was excellent, but afterwards Jobson seemed badly affected by the stress of the situation. At a conference on 24 July, Jobson appeared to be in an agitated state and Monash felt that his friend was becoming unstable. Jobson relinquished command on 25 August 1917 and returned to Australia where his appointment with the AIF was terminated on 9 December. Monash arranged for him to be again mentioned in despatches and awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

in the

1918 New Year Honours The 1918 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in ''The London Gazette'' and ''The Times'' in Ja ...

Post war

In October 1918, Jobson was appointed to command the 2nd Battalion, 53rd Infantry Regiment with the rank of lieutenant colonel and honorary brigadier general. Failure in the field was apparently considered no bar to promotion and he was promoted to colonel in December 1919 and transferred to the Reserve of Officers in 1921. After the war, Jobson held a number of company directorates, most notably director of

AMP #REDIRECT Amp #REDIRECT Amp {{Redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...

{{Redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...

Early life and career

First World War

Post war

See also

References