Story Highlights
- Historical event
- 2 June 1950
- Thomas Blamey signed the famous capitulation of Japan on this day in 1945. He was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal in 1950.
On this day in 1950, the Australian General Sir Thomas Blamey was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal.
Therefore, he became the only Australian field marshal in history. Thomas Blamey was born in the colony of New South Wales (NSW), and was a peer of Benito Mussolini and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
He participated in World War I and World War II as a British ally.
During World War I, Blamey played an important role at Gallipoli (the film Gallipoli with Mel Gibson tells the story of the Australians who fought there).
Shortly before the end of World War I, Blamey became Brigadier General, and between the two wars, he served as Chief Police Commissioner of the Australian federal state of Victoria.
In World War II, he was a commander in the Middle East and Greece. In 1942, he became the supreme commander of the Australian forces. He fought against the Japanese imperial forces in New Guinea.
Thomas Blamey signed the famous capitulation of Japan on this day in 1945. He was retired after the war.
The Australian Prime Minister promoted him to the rank of Field Marshal in 1950. Only a few days after that, his condition worsened. Blamey received his marshal’s baton lying in a hospital bed.
He died on 27 May 1951, aged 68.
