Major General Sir Clive Selwyn Steele, (30 September 1892 – 5 August 1955) was an engineer and a senior officer of the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

who served in both the

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and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

s. He was instrumental in the expansion of the

Royal Australian Engineers The Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) is the military engineering corps of the Australian Army. The RAE is ranked fourth in seniority of the corps of the Australian Army, behind the Corps of Staff Cadets, Staff Cadets, Royal Australian Armoured C ...

(RAE) in preparation for the war against Japan.

Early life

Born on 30 September 1892 at

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Clive Steele was the son of Herbert Selwyn Steele and Alice Lydia née Sinclair. He was educated at Scotch College (prefect and captain of boats, 1910), and the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

(B.C.E. 1919). He joined the

Militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

in 1912.Darryl Bennet
'Steele, Sir Clive Selwyn (1892–1955)'
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 16, Melbourne University Press, 2002, pp 296–297.

First World War

Appointed as a second lieutenant in the

(RAE), Australian Imperial Force on 8 October 1915, he sailed for Egypt in November with the 5th Field Company. He arrived on the Western Front in March 1916 and was promoted to captain in September. While on recreation leave, he married Amie Osland Bilson on 6 January 1917 at

West Brompton West Brompton is an area of west London, England, that straddles the boundary between the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The centuries-old boundary traced by Counter's Creek, probably marke ...

, London. During actions around Péronne, France in August 1918, he commanded a unit undertaking repairs to bridges while under artillery and machine-gun fire. On 31 August he undertook reconnaissance in front of the Australian lines, providing details of the state of bridges across the

River Somme The Somme ( , ; ) is a river in Picardy, northern France. The river is in length, from its source in the high ground of the former at Fonsomme near Saint-Quentin, to the Bay of the Somme, in the English Channel. It lies in the geologica ...

and the Somme Canal. For this action he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

, the citation for which reads: Steele was promoted to major in October. He returned to Australia, and was discharged on 1 August 1919.

Interwar

Finishing his engineering degree at Melbourne University in 1919, he gained employment with Australian Reinforced Concrete & Engineering Co. until 1921 and then with James Hardie & Co. Pty Ltd from 1921 to 1923. Setting up private practice in 1924 as a consulting engineer, he designed and supervised structural works including the State Savings Bank of Victoria building in Melbourne, the members' stand at

Flemington Racecourse Flemington Racecourse is a major horse racing venue located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is most notable for hosting the Melbourne Cup, which is the world's richest handicap and the world's richest 3200-metre horse race. The race ...

, the National Mutual Life Association of Australasia Ltd building in Brisbane,

Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney, Australia, refers to three theatres of the same name none of which remain standing. They were located in central Sydney on either Pitt Street or Quay Street. History First theatre (1887–1933) The original Her M ...

and the

Melbourne Town Hall Melbourne Town Hall, often referred to as simply Town Hall, is the administrative seat of the local municipality of the City of Melbourne and the primary offices of the Lord Mayor and city councillors of Melbourne. Located on the northeast co ...

. From 1919, he continued serving in the Militia. In 1926, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and appointed to command the 4th Divisional Engineers (1926–1931) and the 14th Battalion (1933–1939).

Second World War

With the outbreak of the Second World War, Steele was seconded to the

Second Australian Imperial Force The Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF, or Second AIF) was the volunteer expeditionary force of the Australian Army in the Second World War. It was formed following the declaration of war on Nazi Germany, with an initial strength of one ...

on 13 October 1939 as the commander of the 6th Divisional Engineers. He was promoted to temporary brigadier and appointed chief engineer of I Corps in April 1940. He sailed for the Middle East in September and during the Greek campaign in April 1941, he was chief engineer of the Anzac Corps. During the withdrawal at

Farsala Farsala (), known in Antiquity as Pharsalos (, ), is a town in southern Thessaly, in Greece. Farsala is located in the southern part of Larissa (regional unit), Larissa regional unit, and is one of its largest settlements. Farsala is an economi ...

on 18 April, despite attacks by German aircraft, he organised the filling of a bomb crater in the road which was impeding the withdrawal of the allied forces. He was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

and the Greek War Cross, and was twice

Mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

for his service in the Middle East. Transported to

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

in January 1942, he was then sent to

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

on 14 February, where he helped organise the evacuation of Allied troops from Oosthaven. He returned to Australia in March, and in April was promoted to temporary major general and appointed engineer-in-chief at Land Headquarters, Melbourne. In preparation for the war against Japan, he established the RAE Training Centre at

Kapooka, New South Wales Kapooka (place of winds-Wiradjuri) a suburb in the south-west of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. Kapooka is home to the Department of Defence's Blamey Barracks from where the Army Recruit Training Centre conducts its operations. It ...

and increased the size of the School of Military Engineering at

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, which trained sappers who disarmed mines, demolished obstacles, provided water supplies and other services to military camps, cut and milled timber, built huts, roads, bridges, railways, airfields and wharves, and operated the army's water-transport vessels. With the reorganisation of Land Headquarters in October 1943, fortifications, works, engineer stores and transport were added to Steele's responsibilities. During 1944 or 1945 he personally designed the heavy lift ship ''Crusader''. On 12 March 1946 he transferred to the Reserve of Officers.

Later life

Steele had been awarded the W. C. Kernot medal for 1944 by the University of Melbourne. He was active in the Institution of Engineers, Australia and was appointed

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(KBE) in 1953. He died of

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on 5 August 1955 at the Repatriation General Hospital, Heidelberg and was cremated. He was survived by his wife; the couple were childless. In recognition of his contributions, Steele Barracks, the current home to the School of Military Engineering, was named in his honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, Clive 1892 births 1955 deaths Royal Australian Engineers officers 20th-century Australian engineers Australian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Australian generals Australian Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Australian military personnel of World War I Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian recipients of the Military Cross Engineers from Melbourne Military personnel from Melbourne People educated at Scotch College, Melbourne Recipients of the War Cross (Greece) University of Melbourne alumni Australian military engineers People from Canterbury, Victoria