Sir Bernard James Callinan, (2 February 1913 – 20 July 1995) was an Australian soldier, civil engineer, businessman, and sport administrator.

Early life

Born in Melbourne on 2 February 1913, after attending St Kevin's College Callinan completed a Bachelor of Civil Engineering at the University of Melbourne. Upon graduating in 1935, he joined the embryonic consulting practice of Gordon Gutteridge, which became Gutteridge, Haskins and Davey a few years later and is now known as GHD.

Military service

Callinan was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Citizens Military Force in June 1940, being appointed into the Royal Australian Engineers. In March 1941, he volunteered for overseas service and joined 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 initia ...

, taking up a posting as an instructor at the Demolitions Wing, at the 7th Infantry Training Centre. He was promoted to captain in July 1941, and subsequently posted as the second-in-command to the 2/2nd Independent Company, deploying with them to Timor as part of Sparrow Force in December 1941. He subsequently led the commandos during their campaign on the island and in July 1942 was temporarily promoted to major. Upon returning to Australia, his promotion to major was confirmed and he served on the headquarters of the First Army as a staff officer before taking up a posting as second-in-command of the 31st/51st Battalion at Merauke in November 1943. In early 1945, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and assumed command of the 26th Battalion, leading them through the

Bougainville Campaign The Bougainville campaign was a series of land and naval battles of the Pacific campaign of World War II between Allied forces and the Empire of Japan, named after the island of Bougainville. It was part of Operation Cartwheel, the Allie ...

. In February 1946, he was discharged from the 2nd AIF, but later returned to the Citizen Military Forces and commanded the 58th/32nd Infantry Battalion, commanding it from 1948 to 1951. For his wartime service he was 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, ty ...

and

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 ...

for outstanding leadership and gallantry. He was also Mentioned in Despatches.

Professional career

Returning to GHD from service in World War 2, Callinan developed the practice in Victoria and Tasmania, creating a vibrant and enthusiastic team with a reputation for efficiency and integrity. Callinan was a great believer in diversifying the scope of work that GHD performed, particularly in urban planning. He studied this subject at Melbourne University part-time and topped his class with honours. This enabled GHD to add another service to its offering and grow its relationships with local government clients. He was appointed chairman and managing director of the company in 1971 and received a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

for his services to engineering. The following year he was presented with the Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal from the Institution of Engineers Australia. In 1977 he was knighted for services to engineering and retired from GHD in 1978, after 44 years of service. Callinan led the company through a period of rapid expansion, as it grew to 500 employees with offices around Australia and began to establish a global footprint. Callinan held many positions in the commercial field, including director of CSR Ltd, director of British Petroleum Company of Australia, chairman of the new Federal Parliament House Construction Authority, commissioner of the Australia Broadcasting Corporation and the State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SEC), deputy chancellor of

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria a ...

and president of the Institute of Engineers Australia. From 1963 he served as Commissioner of the SEC Victoria.

Sport administration

Callinan joined the

Melbourne Cricket Club The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is a sports club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is one of the oldest sports clubs in Australia. The MCC is responsible for management and development of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, ...

(MCC) committee in 1966 and served as president from 1980 to 1985. He fought to retain the Victorian Football League (VFL) grand final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), and was a long-serving

Victorian Amateur Football Association The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) is the largest senior community Australian rules football competition in Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It consists of seven senior men's and women's divisions ranging from Premier to Division ...

(VAFA) Patron-in-Chief.

Later life

He died in 1995. His five children and his wife, Naomi, survived him.

Notes

External links

Bernard Callinan's publications.
* . {{DEFAULTSORT:Callinan, Bernard 1913 births 1995 deaths Australian Army officers Australian civil engineers Australian Knights Bachelor Australian Army personnel of World War II Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Military Cross Companions of the Order of Australia Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century Australian businesspeople