"Hero or coward? Was Major-General Gordon Bennett " Topic
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Tango01  | 08 Feb 2018 12:07 p.m. PST |
…either or both? "One of the most controversial episodes in Australia's war annals, the fall of Singapore and the escape by Australian military leaders while troops were left behind, has long hung a black cloud over the name of Australia's youngest general. Despite all the errors of judgment that led to the fall of Singapore in February 1942, there were only ever two Commonwealth inquiries. Both were in Australia in 1945, and both scrutinised the actions of one Australian officer, Major-General Gordon Bennett. Bennett was a decorated World War I Gallipoli veteran, promoted as the youngest general in the Australian Army. But in 1945 the Australian military decided its most vital question was to determine if Bennett was a hero, or a coward who deserted his 8th Division men to become Japanese prisoners after Britain surrendered on February 15, 1942…"
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| Winston Smith | 08 Feb 2018 2:17 p.m. PST |
Cough cough.
MacArthur. Philippines.
Cough. Cough. |
| mjkerner | 08 Feb 2018 3:32 p.m. PST |
Mac was ordered to leave by Roosevelt. Probably didn't make any difference to his troops, but still…. |
| charared | 08 Feb 2018 5:09 p.m. PST |
Yeah, but Doug didn't use any of his personal "feistiness" to tell FDR that he wouldn't leave his command. The USA could've lost Mac and survived. |
zoneofcontrol  | 08 Feb 2018 5:55 p.m. PST |
"The USA could've lost Mac and survived." We just had to wait one more war to lose him. |
| Fred Cartwright | 09 Feb 2018 2:40 a.m. PST |
Kind of ironic that the other prominent Aussie in the story was called Blamey! |
| Tango01 | 09 Feb 2018 11:28 a.m. PST |
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| Legion 4 | 10 Feb 2018 9:02 a.m. PST |
If you think about it, high ranking officers like Generals and Admirals … generally are Not considered expendable, in most cases. Now LTs, CPTs, yeah … well … are more expendable than Generals.  |
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