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Alan Stretton
Alan Stretton
Personal information
Position(s)	fullback & ruck
Playing career
Years	Club
1946-1947	St Kilda (VFL)
1948	Brighton (VFA)
1955-57	Sorrento (MPFL)
Career highlights
	1948 Premiers (Brighton); 1956 Best & Fairest (Sorrento)
	Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Alan Bishop Stretton
Alan Bishop Stretton
Born	30 September 1922; Melbourne, Victoria
Died	26 October 2012 (aged 90); Batemans Bay, New South Wales
Allegiance	Australia
Service / branch	Australian Army
Years of service	1940–1978
Rank	Major General
Commands	2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1961–63)
Battles / wars	Second World War; Korean War; Vietnam War
Awards	Officer of the Order of Australia; Commander of the Order of the British Empire; Distinguished Service Order (Vietnam); Bronze Star Medal (United States)

Major General Alan Bishop Stretton, AO, CBE (30 September 1922 – 26 October 2012) was a senior Australian Army officer. He came to public prominence through his work in charge of cleanup efforts at Darwin in the aftermath of Cyclone Tracy on Christmas Day 1974.^[1] As head of the National Disasters Organisation he managed the evacuation of 35,000 people in six days, including loading a jumbo jet with 673 passengers,^[2] mostly children, then a record for the most people aloft in the one aircraft.

Early years

Stretton was born on 30 September 1922 in Melbourne, Victoria.^[3] He was educated at Caulfield Grammar School^[4] and Scotch College, Melbourne.^[5] After graduating from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, he began his military career serving with the 2/9th Battalion during the Second World War.^[6]^[7]

Football

In 1946 and 1947 Stretton played 16 games of Australian rules football in the Victorian Football League with St Kilda, after arriving at the club from Duntroon.^[8]

Military career

Stretton served in the army from 1940 to 1978. In the Second World War he served as a platoon commander in the 2/9th Battalion.^[5]

In the Korean War he served in the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment from 1954 to 1955. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire on 13 December 1955.^[9] In Malaya he served as the commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1961–63). On 12 June 1965 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.^[10] He served three tours during the Vietnam War, in 1962, 1966 and 1967. He was Director of administrative planning at headquarters (1966–69), and from 1969 to 1970 was chief of staff of the Australian forces. On 8 January 1971 he was advanced to Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his service in Vietnam.^[11] In 1970 the South Vietnamese government awarded him the Distinguished Service Order and in 1973 the US awarded him the Bronze Star Medal.^[5]^[12]

During his time in Malaya and Vietnam, without attending a lecture, he studied by correspondence from the jungle and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Queensland in 1966. He was admitted as a barrister in the New South Wales and High Courts in 1969.^[5]^[12]

Stretton was promoted to brigadier in 1971 and from 1972 to 1974 was deputy director (military) of the Joint Intelligence Organisation and member of the National Intelligence Committee.^[5]^[12]

Cyclone Tracy and post-military

Stretton was jointly named the 1975 Australian of the Year,^[13] with Sir John Cornforth.

He wrote The Furious Days: The Relief of Darwin (1976) and Soldier in the Storm (1978), retiring from public life in 1978. He practiced law in Canberra into his 70s.^[5]

In 1999, in only his second visit to the city of Darwin since Cyclone Tracy, he presented his insignia as Officer of the Order of Australia, and his award as Australian of the Year, to the people of Darwin.

In 2003 he publicly criticised the Australian Government's policy of involvement with the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, in an open letter in which he stated: "The alleged connection between Saddam Hussein and al-Qa'ida is ludicrous."^[14]

He died on 26 October 2012 at Batemans Bay Hospital in New South Wales, aged 90.^[1]^[15]

List of honours

	Officer of the Order of Australia (AO)	9 June 1975^[16]^[17]
	Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)	8 January 1971^[5]^[12]^[11]^[17]
	Officer of the order of the British Empire (OBE)	12 June 1965^[5]^[12]^[10]
	Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)	13 December 1955^[5]^[12]^[9]
	Pacific Star	^[17]
	War Medal 1939–1945	^[17]
	Australia Service Medal 1939–45	^[17]
	United Nations Korea Medal	^[17]
	Vietnam Medal	^[5]^[12]^[17]
	Centenary Medal	1 January 2001^[18]
	Defence Force Service Medal with four clasps	For 35–39 years service^[17]
	National Medal with 2 Rosettes	For a total of 35 years service^[19]^[20]^[21]^[17]
	Australian Defence Medal	2006
	Vietnam Campaign Medal	(South Vietnam)^[5]^[12]^[17]

Notes

^ ^a ^b "Cyclone Tracy recovery leader Stretton dies". Australia: ABC News. 28 October 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
^ "Advertising". The Canberra Times. Vol. 71, no. 22, 127. 16 November 1995. p. 8 (SUPPLEMENT TO THE CANBERRA TIMES). Retrieved 7 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
^ STRETTON, Alan Bishop, Who's Who in Australasia and the Far East, Melrose Press, 1989, p.531
^ "His Hobby— Alan Stretton with his fantail pigeons at the exhibition of hobbies held at the Caulfield Grammar School yesterday", The Argus, Tuesday, 9 December 1930, p.5.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k "Obituaries". Scotch College, Melbourne.
^ Wallace Crouch (31 December 1974) Darwin's Dictator for a week, The Sydney Morning Herald, p.4
^ Dickens 2005, p. x.
^ Gossip from League Clubs, The Argus (Melbourne), 10 May 1946, p.15.
Alan Stretton, who will play at centre half-back for St Kilda, gained valuable experience at Royal Military College at Duntroon. He is 6ft lin and weighs 14st 10lb.
^ ^a ^b It's an Honour Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine – Member of the Order of the British Empire – 13 December 1955
Citation: ARMY – Infantry – Distinguished service in Korea
^ ^a ^b It's an Honour Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine – Officer of the Order of the British Empire – 12 June 1965
Citation: ARMY – Staff Corps – Postwar Honours List
^ ^a ^b It's an Honour Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine – Commander of the Order of the British Empire – 8 January 1971
Citation: ARMY – Staff Corps – Vietnam.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Damien Murphy (31 October 2012). "Military man became Darwin's hero". The Sydney Morning Herald.
^ Lewis, Wendy (2010). Australians of the Year. Pier 9 Press. ISBN 978-1-74196-809-5.
^ "Evidence weak, so leave young Australians out of it". 7 February 2003.
^ John Thistleton (29 October 2012) Vale Major-General Alan Stretton, The Canberra Times
^ It's an Honour Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine – Officer of the Order of Australia – 9 June 1975
Citation: AO (MILITARY DIVISION) QB 1975. CBE 1971. OBE QB 1965. MBE 1955
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Gwendolene E. Pratt (1987) Portrait of Alan B. Stretton AO OBE LLB, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra.
^ It's an Honour Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine – Centenary Medal – 1 January 2001
Citation: For service to the community including restoration of Darwin post-Cyclone Tracy
^ It's an Honour Archived 16 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine – National Medal – 14 July 1977
Citation: The National Medal is awarded for diligent long service to the community in hazardous circumstances, including in times of emergency and national disaster, in direct protection of life and property.
^ It's an Honour Archived 16 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine – National Medal, 1st Clasp – 14 July 1977
Citation: The National Medal is awarded for diligent long service to the community in hazardous circumstances, including in times of emergency and national disaster, in direct protection of life and property.
^ It's an Honour Archived 16 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine – National Medal, 2nd Clasp – 27 January 1978
Citation: The National Medal is awarded for diligent long service to the community in hazardous circumstances, including in times of emergency and national disaster, in direct protection of life and property.

References

Dickens, Gordon (2005). Never Late: The 2/9th Australian Infantry Battalion 1939–1945. Loftus, NSW: Australian Military History Publications. ISBN 1-876439-47-5.