George Deane Mitchell (30 August 1894 – 11 January 1961) was an Australian politician and an Independent member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

for a single term between 1941 and 1944.

Early life

Mitchell was born in Caltowie near

Jamestown, South Australia Jamestown is a town in the Mid North region of South Australia north of Adelaide. It lies on the banks of the Belalie Creek and on the Crystal Brook-Broken Hill railway line between Gladstone and Peterborough, and ultimately on the main line lin ...

and was the son of a railway porter. He was educated in Adelaide and worked as a clerk in Therbarton until 1914. Mitchell enlisted in the

First Australian Imperial Force The First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) was the main expeditionary force of the Australian Army during the First World War. It was formed as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following Britain's declaration of war on Germany on 15 Aug ...

at the outbreak of World War One and served in the Middle East and France between 1914 and 1919. He reached the rank of Lieutenant and was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

and

Distinguished Conduct Medal The Distinguished Conduct Medal was a decoration established in 1854 by Queen Victoria for gallantry in the field by other ranks of the British Army. It is the oldest British award for gallantry and was a second level military decoration, ranki ...

. In the inter-war period Mitchell was a member of the Citizens' Military Forces and re-enlisted in the

Second Australian Imperial Force The Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF, or Second AIF) was the name given to the volunteer expeditionary force of the Australian Army in the Second World War. It was formed following the declaration of war on Nazi Germany, with an initial ...

with the rank of Captain at the commencement of World War Two. He reached the rank of Major and commanded an amphibious landing force in the New Guinea Campaign. Mitchell had several other occupations including potato farming in Dorrigo, owning a motor garage and car sales agency and script writing for the Australian film industry. He was an office holder in the

Returned Services League The Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) is a support organisation for people who have served or are serving in the Australian Defence Force. Mission The RSL's mission is to ensure that programs are in place for the well-being, care ...

State Parliament

Mitchell unsuccessfully contested the seat of

Oxley Oxley may refer to: Places Australia Australian Capital Territory * Oxley, Australian Capital Territory is a suburb of Canberra, Australia Queensland *Oxley, Queensland is a suburb of Brisbane, Australia **Oxley railway station, Brisbane ...

as an Independent candidate at the

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

state election. He was easily defeated by the

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...

incumbent member and Minister for Local Government and Public Works, Lewis Martin. Mitchell reversed the result with a surprise victory in the landslide defeat of

Alexander Mair Alexander Mair (25 August 18893 August 1969) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 5 August 1939 to 16 May 1941. Born in Melbourne, Mair worked in various businesses there before moving to Albury, New Sout ...

's conservative coalition government at the

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

election. Mitchell was on extended leave from parliament due to active war service during much of the period following the election. The parliamentary convention was that members on active service were not opposed by candidates from major parties during elections. However,

Les Jordan Leslie Charles Jordan (26 July 1896 – 29 September 1965) was an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1944 until his death in 1965 . He was initially elected as a member of the Country Party but c ...

, a member of the Country Party and two other party members stood as "Independent Country" candidates. Jordan was victorious, and immediately joined the Country Party caucus. Mitchell then retired from public life.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell George 1894 births 1961 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 20th-century Australian politicians Australian recipients of the Military Cross Australian recipients of the Distinguished Conduct Medal