Hassett: Australian Leader

HASSETT Australian Leader.  A Biography of General Sir Francis Hassett, AC, KBE, CB, DSO, LVO.

John Essex-Clark, DSM

Australian Military History Publications, 2005.  293pp.

There is almost certainly an interesting and informative biography to be written about General Sir Francis Hassett.  Unfortunately, this is not it.

There are three principal reasons for this assessment.  First, the contents of the book are gravely imbalanced.  Some 97 pages, a third of the book, are spent on a description of the Battle of Maryang San, spanning only around a week of Hassett’s career.  Yet the author himself, in listing the extensive written sources on the battle that he used, effectively acknowledges that this ground has been well ploughed previously.  It would surely have been better if, to use the author’s words from the Preface, he had corrected the deficiency where ‘nothing of great substance has yet been written about what made the man, or what he achieved after that battle’.

A deeper look at ‘what made the man’, for example, might have seen similarities between Hassett’s humble origins and those of ‘Tubby’ Allen, Hassett’s first brigade commander during the Second World War, also the son of a member of the NSW Government Railways, who also left school early, and through a combination of native intelligence, energy, personal study and hard work also rose to be a lieutenant colonel by the age of 24.  Comparisons might also have been made between Hassett’s persistent health problems and the health problems that plagued Major General Gellibrand for much of his life.  Hassett was apparently more successful than was Gellibrand in coping with his problems, even during extended periods of action, and he did not suffer from the apparent psychological fragility that plagued Gellibrand. 

The second reason is the manner in which potentially interesting events are mentioned, but not followed through with detailed discussion.  Many of these events relate to ‘what he achieved after that battle’.  As an example, the confusions over leave in Korea, and the problems of men remaining ‘on paper’ in 3RAR, some of whom were even back in Australia suggest that there was something fundamentally very wrong in the Adjutant-General’s Branch.  This suggestion reinforced by some incidents during the Second World War that have been mentioned in other books in the Army History Series, leading to the question of what actions Hassett, as CGS, might later have taken to resolve any ongoing problems. 

Other matters, alluded to but briefly, almost beg for more detailed study.  In view of the long-standing tensions between regular and citizen soldiers in Australia, the discussion on page 144, on the concerns of older regular officers during the Second World War about the rapid promotions received by the younger regulars suggests that there was also a generation gap among the regulars.  Further, the comment on page 107, that with ‘the exception of “Red Robbie”, none of the military staff or instructors [at Duntroon during Hassett’s time as a cadet] was to prove outstanding in later years’ suggests a deep seated problem among the older regulars.  This might give a stronger basis than is normally accepted for the concerns of citizen officers in the 1930s and 1940s, exemplified by Lieutenant Colonel England’s reception of Hassett when he arrived at the 2/3rd Battalion. 

The outstanding success of many members of the Darwin Mobile Force, selected from some 3,000 applicants, most of whom would have been from outside the small regular Army of the time, supports this theory.  Essex-Clark could well have spent some space showing Hassett as one of the early members of a new generation that transformed the Army in the 1950s and 1960s.  He could also have explored the extent to which a problem still existed when Hassett reached senior rank.  If so, how did he approach it?  The reactions to Hassett’s 1970 Army Review Committee suggest that some reluctance to accept the modern world still remained even as late as that.

The ‘serendipitous’ meeting between then Colonel Hassett and Sir Edwin Hicks seems to have led to a mentoring relationship, but this is not given the attention it deserves, given the otherwise somewhat fractious relationships over the years between senior military and civilian personnel in the Defence Organisation.  Particularly when linked to the suggestion that, in 1961, Hicks determined the line of succession for the CGS position for many years ahead, this is an aspect to the relationship between the senior military and civilian officers that could have been pursued.

A related issue is the extent to which Sir Arthur Tange, bogeyman for a whole generation of senior military officers, worked to support Hassett.  This was not just in relation to the Army Review Committee, but also in increasing the authority of the senior military officers (the Chiefs and the then Chairman COSC/CDFS).  It is unfortunate that Tange did not seem to give the same support to Hassett’s views on delegation of authority.  Again, Essex-Clark hints at the issues, acknowledging Hassett’s belief that the Service Chiefs (one of whom was Hassett) were responsible for the faulty initial organisational arrangements after the Tange Review, but he then moves on to discuss more comfortable subjects. 

The relationship between Hassett, Hicks and Tange should have been a major part of ‘what [Hassett] achieved after that battle [of Maryang San]’, not just a few pages.  The period when Hassett was CGS/CDFS was important in the development of the modern ADF, and should surely have been given more attention in a substantial biography of Hassett.  The comment that Hassett’s staff when appointed CGS was ‘tiny compared with today’ raises questions beyond the scope of this book about changes made after Hassett retired, but does bring to mind Slim’s comment on the multiplication of staff members bogging down movement.

The final reason that this is not the biography of Hassett that should be written is the proliferation of minor errors throughout the book, many of which should not have been made by a man of the author’s extensive military experience.  These include expanding CDFS as Chairman (rather than Chief) of the Defence Force Staff in the Chronology of Hassett’s career, referring to the Chiefs of Staff Committee variously as Chief of Staff Committee and Chief of Staff’s Committee, as well as by the correct title, and calling the 16th NZ Field Regiment the 17th on one occasion.  The drawing on page 156, captioned Digger with an Owen Gun, is clearly showing a weapon that is not an Owen Gun, as carried by a soldier in the photo on the next page.  The photograph on page 205 refers to a man wearing three ‘pips’ as a major.  Admittedly, these are minor errors, but they should not have been made.

Other errors have more substance.  In one place, Essex-Clark quotes Jim Shelton describing Hassett continuing to serve Brigadier Macdonald (formerly of the KOSB, then commanding 28th Commonwealth Brigade) ‘for the next eight months in Korea’.  On the next page, the author refers to ‘only the imminent arrival of Macdonald’s replacement … [preventing] a serious clash between Hassett and Macdonald’.  One is left wondering when the Macdonald/Daly changeover actually occurred, or whether there was another issue, towards the end of those eight months, that is not mentioned.  The miscount on page 202, which implies that only three Victoria Crosses were awarded to Australians in Vietnam, is particularly regrettable.  More than a third of the footnotes to Chapter 2 do not appear.

Essex-Clark’s use of words sometimes confuses issues.  He describes Hassett writing to the then Minister, Killen, on his resignation ‘making it quite clear that, as rumour might have it, there was no contretemps [with] Tange’.  Actually, the rumour probably suggested that there was a contretemps, and ‘as’ should have been ‘despite what’.  Again, the suggestion on page 269 that ‘few would doubt [Hassett’s] need for [patrons]’ almost certainly reverses the intention of the statement, as it is more likely that Essex-Clark intended to say that few would believe his need for them!

Brigadier Essex-Clark could have improved this book out of sight simply by accepting the assistance of a good sub-editor, who could probably have reduced the number of errors from a major annoyance to a minor inconvenience.

The reviewer read and enjoyed Essex-Clark’s memoirs (Maverick Soldier, MUP, 1991), and is struck by the difference in the writing style.  The memoirs are written in a confident, self-deprecating style that is easy to read.  This book is written in a more deferential style, not nearly as enjoyable to read.  It is hard to avoid the conclusion that he was somewhat awestruck by his subject, and reluctant to adopt a more robust style for fear of causing offence.  I suspect, however, that General Hassett may be a more robust character, unlikely to take offence at a blunt writing style!

Overall, this is more of a book of soldiers’ reminiscences than a book for those seeking an in-depth assessment of the career of one of Australia’s more significant post-World War II military leaders.  That book remains to be written, and the author’s final question must be answered in the negative.

JOHN DONOVAN