Ernest Squires

---

title: "Ernest Squires" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["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-british-india", "british-emigrants-to-australia", "british-military-personnel-of-the-third-anglo-afghan-war"] description: "Australian Army general" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Squires" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Australian Army general ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox military person"]

Field	Value
name	Ernest Ker Squires
image	Ernest Squires (cropped).jpg
birth_date	18 December 1882
death_date
birth_place	Poona, India
death_place	Melbourne, Australia
allegiance	United Kingdom
Australia
branch	British Army
Australian Army
serviceyears	1903–1940
rank	Lieutenant General
commands	Chief of the General Staff
battles	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)
::

|name= Ernest Ker Squires |image= Ernest Squires (cropped).jpg |caption= |birth_date= 18 December 1882 |death_date= |birth_place= Poona, India |death_place= Melbourne, Australia |placeofburial= |nickname= |allegiance= United Kingdom Australia |branch= British Army Australian Army |serviceyears= 1903–1940 |rank= Lieutenant General |servicenumber= |unit= |commands= Chief of the General Staff |battles= 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) |relations= |laterwork= Lieutenant General Ernest Ker Squires (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). 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. 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.

References

title=Chief of the General Staff| before=Lieutenant General John Lavarack| after=| years=1939–1940

References

1. Lodge, A. B.. (1990). "Squires, Ernest Ker (1882–1940)".
2. 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.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.
3. [http://www.generals.dk/general/Squires/Ernest_Ker/Great_Britain.html Ernest Squires] Generals.dk
4. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2475345?searchTerm= Inspector General selected] Canberra Times, 19 May 1938

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::