Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

John Murray Sanderson, (born 4 November 1940) is a retired senior

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 ...

officer and vice-regal representative. He served as Force Commander of the

United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) was a United Nations peacekeeping operation in Cambodia in 1992–93 formed following the 1991 Paris Peace Accords. This was the first occasion in which the UN directly assumed re ...

from 1992 to 1993, Chief of Army from 1995 to 1998, and was the 29th

Governor of Western Australia The governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the monarch, King Charles III. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the governor of Western Australia performs constitutional, ceremonial and commun ...

from 2000 to 2005.

Early life

Born in

Geraldton, Western Australia Geraldton ( Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. As of the , Geraldton had an urban population of 38,595. Geraldton is the seat of ...

on 4 November 1940, John Sanderson completed his secondary education at Bunbury High School in 1957 before entering the

Royal Military College, Duntroon The Royal Military College, Duntroon, also known simply as Duntroon, is the Australian Army's Officer (armed forces), officer training establishment. It was founded at Duntroon, Australian Capital Territory, Duntroon in Canberra, Australian Capi ...

in 1958. He graduated in 1961 and was commissioned into 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 ...

in December 1961.

Military career

After completing a Fellowship Diploma in civil engineering at the

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (abbreviated as RMIT University) is a public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia., section 4(b) Established in 1887 by Francis Ormond, it is the seventh-o ...

, Sanderson had a series of regimental postings. These included second in command of the 10th Field Squadron and troop commander and construction officer of the 21st Construction Squadron on operational service in

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

, Malaysia. He was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in 1965. Following eighteen months as a staff officer in the Office of the Engineer in Chief, he was posted as the exchange instructor at the

Royal School of Military Engineering The Royal School of Military Engineering (RSME) Group provides a wide range of training for the British Army and Defence. This includes; Combat Engineers, Carpenters, Chartered Engineers, Musicians, Band Masters, Sniffer Dogs, Veterinary Techni ...

in Chattenden, United Kingdom from 1967 to 1969. He returned to Australia to command the 23rd Construction Squadron at

Holsworthy Barracks Holsworthy military base is an Australian Army military barracks, located in the Heathcote National Park in Holsworthy approximately from the central business district, in south-western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The barracks is pa ...

, prior to taking up command of the 17th Construction Squadron in

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

at the end of 1970. Returning to Australia in late 1971, he was the senior instructor at the School of Military Engineering throughout 1972 before attending the

Army Command and Staff College The Australian Defence College (ADC) comprises three joint education and training organisations operated by the Australian Defence Force in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: * the War College, * the Australian Defence Force Training Cent ...

Fort Queenscliff Fort Queenscliff, in Victoria, Australia, dates from 1860 when an open battery was constructed on Shortland's Bluff to defend the entrance to Port Phillip. The Fort, which underwent major redevelopment in the late 1870s and 1880s, became the he ...

in 1973. Sanderson was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1975 after serving for a short period as a Staff Officer at the Headquarters of Field Force Command. His initial appointment as Staff Officer Grade 1 at the Directorate of Engineers was followed by two years (1976–1978) as the Exchange Instructor at the British Army's

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which ...

. Sanderson commanded the 1st Field Engineer Regiment from 1979 to 1980, and then attended the

Joint Services Command and Staff College Joint Services Command and Staff College (JSCSC) is a British Armed Forces academic establishment that provides training and education to experienced officers of the Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force, Ministry of Defence Civil Service, and offic ...

in 1981. Sanderson was appointed as the military assistant to the

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Afghanistan) * Chief of the General Staff (Albania) * C ...

in late 1981, serving in that capacity until being promoted to colonel as director of army plans in 1983. From June 1985 to the middle of 1986, he attended the

U.S. Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a United States Army, U.S. Army staff college in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, with a Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Carlisle postal address, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle B ...

, returning to Australia with the rank of

brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

. After a six-month period as chairman of the Army Reserve Review Committee, he assumed command of the 1st Brigade at Holsworthy. Sanderson served as chief of staff, land command, for a brief period in 1989 and was then promoted to major general and appointed as assistant chief of defence policy. In this role he was tasked to develop and carry out major reforms to the Higher

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the Armed forces, military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia and its national interests. It consists of three branches: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and the Royal Aus ...

Staff, which resulted in him becoming the first assistant chief of defence force development at the end of 1989. From October 1991, Sanderson became engaged directly in the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

process to bring peace to

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

, first as adviser to the

Secretary General of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

, and then from March 1992, in the rank of

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

, as the commander of the 16,000-strong international military component of the

Transitional Authority in Cambodia (

UNTAC The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) was a United Nations peacekeeping operation in Cambodia in 1992–93 formed following the 1991 Paris Peace Accords. This was the first occasion in which the UN List of territories ...

). After the successful completion of the UN mission in October 1993, Sanderson returned to Australia to be appointed as the first commander, Joint Forces Australia, (now Chief of Joint Operations), and developed this role until becoming Chief of the General Staff in June 1995. This position was renamed to Chief of Army in 1997, and Sanderson continued in this position until his retirement from the army on 23 June 1998.

Governor of Western Australia

On 18 August 2000, Sanderson was sworn in as 29th governor of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

.Lieutenant-General John M. Sanderson 2000–2005
Governors of Western Australia, The Constitutional Centre of Western Australia. Retrieved 1 May 2012. Sanderson retired as Governor of Western Australia in June 2005 after his term of office expired, but agreed to stay on until 31 October 2005 to assist with the transition to the new governor. His successor,

Ken Michael Kenneth Comninos Michael, (born 12 April 1938) is an Australian civil engineer, academic and former public servant who was the 30th Governor of Western Australia, serving from 2006 to 2011. Early life and career Michael was born in Perth, W ...

, was sworn in on 18 January 2006.

Publications

*1999 "Australia's role in Asia" *1999 "International humanitarian law and the Balkans : the dilemma of a superpower" *2005 "Ride the whirlpool : selected speeches of Lieutenant General John Sanderson AC Governor of Western Australia 2000–2005", University of Western Australia Press. '
Table of Contents
Catalogue entries
NLA
http://lccn.loc.gov/200638642

'' *2009 "The reconciliation journey"

Honours and awards

Australian Active Service Medal 1945-75 ribbon

AUS Meritorious Unit Citation with Federation Star

References

External links

Swearing In Ceremony – Address in Reply (John Sanderson)
Governor of Western Australia
Portrait
1989-04-18, Major General John Sanderson, Assistant Chief of Defence Force Policy. (Copyright, Australian War Memorial)
Timeline
Lieutenant General John Murray Sanderson, AC. (Copyright, Australian War Memorial)

by Heide Smith , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanderson, John 1940 births Academics of the Staff College, Camberley United States Army War College alumni Australian generals Military personnel from Western Australia Australian military personnel of the Malayan Emergency Australian military personnel of the Vietnam War Commanders of the Legion of Merit Companions of the Order of Australia Governors of Western Australia Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Cambodia Living people People from Geraldton Recipients of the Meritorious Unit Citation Royal Military College, Duntroon graduates Australian military engineers Chiefs of Army (Australia) Royal Australian Engineers officers