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Ernest Ker Squires
Born	18 December 1882 Poona, India
Died	2 March 1940(1940-03-02) (aged 57) Melbourne, Australia
Allegiance	United Kingdom Australia
Service / branch	British Army Australian Army
Years of service	1903–1940
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands	Chief of the General Staff
Battles / wars	First World War Third Anglo-Afghan War Second World War
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Military Cross & 4 Bars Mentioned in dispatches (6)

Lieutenant General Ernest Ker Squires CB, DSO, MC (18 December 1882 – 2 March 1940) was a senior officer in the Australian Army who served as Chief of the General Staff (1939–1940).

Biography

Squires was born in India, son of clergyman Rev. Robert Alfred Squires and Elizabeth Anne (nee Ker). Educated at Eton College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Squires was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1903. He transferred to the 3rd Sappers and Miners in India in 1905. On 3 March 1912 he married at Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, Ethel Elsie Risley.

Squires served in the First World War and was wounded at Givenchy in 1914 and at Ypres in 1915. Later that year he saw action again – this time in Mesopotamia, and in the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919. During these five years, he was awarded the Military Cross, the Distinguished Service Order, and mentioned in despatches six times. In 1932 he was made brigadier on the General Staff of Southern Command.

Squires became Director of Staff Duties at the War Office in 1936, Inspector General of the Australian Army in 1938, and Chief of the General Staff in 1939. His health failed him and he died early the following year after cancer surgery in St Ives Private Hospital, East Melbourne. He was cremated at Springvale Crematorium, Melbourne, and is commemorated on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's Victoria Cremation Memorial there.

References

1. ^ "Ernest Ker Squires casualty record". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
2. ^ Lodge, A. B. (1990). "Squires, Ernest Ker (1882–1940)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 12. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. pp. 41–42. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943.
3. The CWGC casualty record indicates he was mentioned in despatches 5 times, the Australian Dictionary of Biography states he was mentioned 6 times including one in the Anglo-Afghan War that followed WWI.
4. Ernest Squires Generals.dk
5. Inspector General selected Canberra Times, 19 May 1938

v t e Chiefs of the Australian Army
General Officers Commanding	Edward Hutton Harry Finn
Chiefs of the General Staff	William Bridges John Hoad Francis Wilson Joseph Gordon James Legge Godfrey Irving Hubert Foster James Legge Brudenell White Harry Chauvel Walter Coxon Julius Bruche John Lavarack Ernest Squires John Northcott Brudenell White Vernon Sturdee John Northcott Vernon Sturdee Sydney Rowell Henry Wells Ragnar Garrett Reg Pollard John Wilton Thomas Daly Mervyn Brogan Francis Hassett Arthur MacDonald Donald Dunstan Phillip Bennett Peter Gration Lawrence O'Donnell John Coates John Grey John Sanderson
Chiefs of Army	John Sanderson Frank Hickling Peter Cosgrove Peter Leahy Ken Gillespie David Morrison Angus Campbell Richard Burr Simon Stuart

• 1882 births
• 1940 deaths
• Australian generals
• Australian military personnel of World War II
• British Army lieutenant generals
• British Army personnel of World War I
• Deaths from cancer in Victoria (state)
• Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
• Companions of the Order of the Bath
• Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich
• People educated at Eton College
• Recipients of the Military Cross
• Royal Engineers officers
• British people in colonial India
• British emigrants to Australia
• British military personnel of the Third Anglo-Afghan War