Lieutenant General Sir Mervyn Francis Brogan, (10 January 1915 – 8 March 1994) was a senior officer in the Australian Army who served as Chief of the General Staff from 1971 to 1973.
A 1935 graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, where he was the Corps Sergeant Major and was awarded the Sword of Honour, and of the University of Sydney, where he earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree, Brogan served in the Second World War on the staff of New Guinea Force during New Guinea Campaign, and as an observer with the British Army during the Western Allied invasion of Germany. After the war he was commandant and chief instructor at the School of Military Engineering during the 1949 Australian coal strike, and, as Director of Military Training, reopened the Land Warfare Centre at Canungra in 1954. When he was appointed the Chief of the General Staff in 1971, he was the first occupant of that position to possess a university degree. He presided over the withdrawal of Australian troops from the Vietnam War, the ending of the National Service scheme, and the consequent reduction of the size of the Army, and sweeping organisational changes.
Early life
Mervyn Francis Brogan was born in Crows Nest, New South Wales, on 10 January 1915, the son of Bernard Brogan and his wife Hilda. He had an older brother, Bernard Alwyn, who later became a wing commander in Royal Australian Air Force. Upon receiving his leaving certificate, he was awarded a scholarship to study at the Sydney Technical College; but as part of the Combined Schools team, he played rugby against the Royal Military College, Duntroon, which had moved from Canberra to the Victoria Barracks, Sydney, due to the Great Depression, and decided to go there instead. His application was accepted, and he entered the Royal Military College on 25 February 1932.
In his final year, Brogan was the Corps Sergeant Major, the senior cadet appointment, and on graduation was awarded the Sword of Honour. He was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Australian Staff Corps on 11 December 1935. On 16 March 1936, he entered the University of Sydney, where he earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree. He did some work on the fortifications on Rottnest Island guarding the city of Perth. He was on the university's swimming and water polo teams, and was a blue in rugby. After graduation he was posted to Melbourne as the Adjutant and Quartermaster, 3rd Division Engineers on 7 August 1938, and then to Army Headquarters at Victoria Barracks, Melbourne, on 23 March 1939. He played rugby for Victoria in 1938 and 1939, and attended tryouts for the Wallabies.
Second World War
When the Second World War broke out in 1939, he sought an appointment with the Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF), but instead was sent to Duntroon as an instructor on 11 November 1939. He became a temporary captain on 1 July 1940. On 25 June 1941, he married Shiela Jones, the daughter of David Samuel Jones, a teacher at the Duntroon School. Her brother gave the bride away, and his acted as his best man. They had two children, Edward and Daryl. He joined the AIF on 22 September 1941, and was allotted the AIF service number NX76403. He was appointed GSO2 of Home Forces on 22 December 1941. This became Second Army on 6 April 1942. He was promoted to the temporary rank of major on 1 July 1942; this became substantive on 1 September.
On 8 November 1942, he became Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General (DAQMG) of New Guinea Force. He became Assistant Quartermaster General (AQMG) of I Corps and New Guinea Force with the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel on 2 August 1943, and AQMG of New Guinea Force on 27 August 1943. He was involved in organising the air supply in support of the Salamaua–Lae campaign, for which he was mentioned in despatches on 23 December 1943, and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 27 April 1944. He was GSO1 of the Military Training Branch at Allied Land Forces, South West Pacific Area (LHQ) from 5 January 1944 to 6 November 1944. He represented the ACT in rugby in 1941 and 1944. In 1945, Brogan was sent as an observer with the British Army during the Western Allied invasion of Germany. Soon after he arrived, he came down with malaria, a legacy of his service in New Guinea, to the surprise of the doctors, who were not used to seeing a tropical disease in North West Europe.