Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Sir Walter Joseph Cawthorn, (11 June 1896 – 4 December 1970) was an Australian soldier and

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

, commonly known as a former head of the

Australian Secret Intelligence Service Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

(ASIS).

Early life

Walter Joseph Cawthorn was born in the suburb of

Prahran Prahran (), also pronounced colloquially as Pran, is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City ...

, on 11 June 1896, the second child of an English commercial traveller, William Cawthorn, and his wife, Fanny Adelaide, née Williames. He was educated at

Melbourne High School Melbourne High School is a government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for boys, located in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1905, the school caters for boys from Year 9 t ...

, and became a schoolteacher, along with his younger sister, Minnie Elizabeth Cawthorn.

Military career

Bill Cawthorn, as he was known to his friends, enlisted in the 22nd Battalion, Australian Imperial Force (AIF), following the start of 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 ...

. During the Gallipoli campaign, he served as a

regimental sergeant major Regimental sergeant major (RSM) is an appointment that may be held by warrant officers class 1 (WO1) in the British Army, the British Royal Marines and in the armies of many other Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, including Australi ...

. He was later commissioned into the AIF and served in France and Belgium. He transferred to the Indian Army as a lieutenant on 25 March 1918. He served with the 46th Punjabis in Palestine from September to October 1918 and 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 ...

in the London Gazette 12 January 1920. He joined the 4th Battalion, 16th Punjab Regiment on 25 September 1925 and attended the

Camberley Staff College Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which ...

in 1929–30. Cawthorn married Mary Wyman Varley in 1927 in London and they had one son, Michael John Douglas Cawthorn, who was born 10 March 1930. His son Michael would later attend the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town of ...

, and was commissioned into the

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

on 16 December 1949. However, he was killed serving in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

on 4 April 1951 with the 1st Battalion. Cawthorn was appointed a company commander in the 4th Battalion, 16th Punjab Regiment on 1 May 1930 and served on the North West Frontier that year.1941 War Services Supplement to Indian Army List Cawthorn served on the Staff of Baluchistan District as a General Staff Officer 3rd grade (GSO 3) from 15 December 1930 to 29 February 1932. He was appointed Deputy Assistant Quarter Master General (DAQMG) on the Staff of Western Command at

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in Geography of Pakistan, south-west of the country close to the ...

1 March 1932 to 20 January 1935. He served on the Mohmand operations on the North West Frontier in 1935. He was appointed a General Staff Officer 2nd grade (GSO 2) at the War Office in London from 6 January 1937 to 2 August 1939. On 3 August 1939 he was appointed a local colonel and temporary General Staff Officer 1st grade (GSO 1). With the rank of Brigadier, Cawthorn took charge of the Middle East Intelligence Centre, at the start of 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 later on 15 August 1941, became the Director of Military Intelligence at the General Headquarters, in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Cawthorn worked well with Peter Fleming and the ultra secret double agent network at GSI(d), the network faced earlier in the war at Rangoon. Unlike Ormonde Hunter, a previous chief he was entirely sympathetic to the agency's aims. Cawthorn had none of these suspicions about the counter-intelligence activity. He was brought to London in March 1943 to discuss double-agents with MI5, before leaving with Churchill's team for the Trident Conference (19-30 May 1943), where he was one of the four-man British negotiating team. Hunter joined them on 28 May to sketch an outline for Operation Saucy, a plan for Japanese deception. The full plan was fleshed out at New Delhi with Fleming, which they dubbed Ramshorn. It was devised as a tactic to divert the Japanese Air Force away from MacArthur's main forces, but predictably John Bevan back in London shot the plan down in flames. Cawthorne had been too ambitious; all that they could do was create 'an illusion of an amphibious landing'. Cawthorn was appointed a temporary major general on 21 November 1943. When the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

occurred in 1947, Cawthorn opted for the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

and from 1948 to 1951 he was Deputy Chief General Staff, Pakistan Army under Lieutenant General Ross C. McCay. Cawthorn left Pakistan in 1951.

Intelligence career and later life

From 1951 to 1954, Cawthorn was the Director of the Australian Joint Intelligence Bureau (JIB), within the Defence ministry. He came back to Pakistan in 1954 as Australia's High Commissioner to Pakistan. He was knighted in 1958, and in 1959 appointed as High Commissioner of Canada until September 1960, when he was brought back to head the

(ASIS) until 1968. Cawthorn died 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 ...

in 1970, at the age of 74. Casey, R.G.G.
"Major-General Cawthorn dies", ''The Age'', (Monday, 7 December 1970, p. 2Diplomat dies at 74, ''The Canberra Times'', (Monday, 7 December 1970, p. 3.
/ref>

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cawthorn, Walter Joseph 1896 births 1970 deaths Australian Army officers Australian Knights Bachelor Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Australian Companions of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Australian military personnel of World War I British military personnel of the Second Mohmand Campaign Directors-General of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service High Commissioners of Australia to Canada High Commissioners of Australia to Pakistan Indian Army generals of World War II Military personnel from Melbourne Public servants from Melbourne Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Pakistan Army officers British Indian Army generals Punjab Regiment officers People from Prahran, Victoria People educated at Melbourne High School Australian people of English descent