Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Major Thomas Raymond Blamey (Service No:VX84) served with the Senior Cadets from 1932, and enlisted in the AIF on 27 September 1939, attached to 2/2 Field Regiment. Promoted to Captain, he served in the Middle East and Greece (14 April 1940 - 18 March 1942) where it was reported he '... displayed considerable devotion to duty and courage and did not spare himself in his endeavour to carry out his arduous duties. He was subjected to bombing and dive - bombing attacks by the enemy and, by his coolness and level-headedness in these tense moments, set a very high standard of conduct for those associated with him to emulate' (NAA). On 16 April 1942 Captain Blamey was made a  Member of the Order of the British Empire for 'distinguished service in the Middle East'. From 6 April 1942 to 16 March 1944 Major Blamey was posted as Military Attache to the Australian Military Mission (Washington), and was in New Guinea and the Phillipines from 13 May 1944 to 9 April 1945. Major Blamey was attached to Land Headquarters at Termination of Appointment on 2 October 1945, and was granted Honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel (NAA).

Tom was born in Melbourne, Victoria in 1914, youngest of two sons of Thomas Albert Blamey GBE KCB (b1884 in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales) and his first wife Minnie Caroline Millard (b1875 in Ballarat, Victoria). Thomas Snr had worked as an Assistant Teacher in Fremantle, Western Australia, and was Lieutenant with the Commonwealth Cadet Forces in 1909 when he and Minnie married in Melbourne. Sir Thomas Blamey was a highly decorated Officer in the Australian Army in WWI and WWII, and Commissioner of Police in Victoria in the 1920s. Eldest son Dolf (Flying Officer; RAAF) was killed in 1932, and Minnie in 1935. Sir Thomas Blamey remarried in Melbourne in 1939 to Olga Ora Farnsworth (b1902 in Melbourne, Victoria) - Olga was an Artist in Melbourne. During WWII, Lady Olga Blamey served as Commander of the Australian Red Cross in the Middle East and Morotai. Sir Thomas Blamey died in 1951 and Lady Olga Blamey in 1967.

Tom attended Prepatory School in Wimbledon, London and Melbourne Grammar School, where he was a Prefect, Lieutenant in the Cadet Corps and member of the Rifle Club. He studied Law at Melbourne University, where he won numerous scholarships and the Supreme Court Judges' prize. Graduatiing in 1938 with a Master of Laws, Tom was admitted to the Bar, and was a Law Tutor at Trinity College whilst working as a Barrister. He married his first wife during his posting to Washington in 1942 - Georgia Calderwood Roberts (b1914 in California, USA), a Photograher and Real Estate Agent. Following his Discharge from the Army, Tom and Georgia settled in Melbourne, where they raised their family and Tom worked as Legal Officer for Broken Hill Smelters, then for Consolidated Zinc  before joining the Commonwealth Aluminium Corporation (ComAlco) as a General Manager, and served on a number of associated company/mining industry Boards. Following Georgia's death in 1971, Tom remarried in 1972 in Melbourne to Jean (Sue) Boyd Kelsall MiD (b1914 in Hamilton, Victoria) - Sue served in WWII as a Captain (Service No:VX271) and established herself in Melbourne as a Physiotherapist. Tom and Sue retired to Mornington in 1978 - where Tom was a Member of the Naval and Military Club, Frankston Golf Club and Peninsula Legacy. Sue died in 1992 and Tom in 1998. 

'Tom Blamey. for all his achivements, was a quiet, modest, self-effacing gentleman, generous and prinipled, his keen intellect and respect for the power and precision of language came with a most considerate and caring nature. While he felt the disappointments and sadnesses in his life keenly, he never allowed himself to be a burden on others' (Ted Blamey {son} 1998).