Major General Stephen Newman Gower, (born 10 June 1940) is a retired

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 former director of the

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial (AWM) is a national war memorial, war museum, museum and archive dedicated to all Australians who died as a result of war, including peacekeeping duties. The AWM is located in Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, C ...

(AWM). During his time in the Army he saw combat as an artillery forward observer during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

in 1966 and 1967. He is also the author of the books ''Guns of the Regiment'' (1981) and ''Options for an Australian Defence Technological Strategy'' (1982).

Early life

Gower was born on 10 June 1940 in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, South Australia, to Allan Martin and Agnes Fanny Gower. Educated at

Unley High School Unley High School is a public coeducational secondary school, located in the Adelaide suburb of Netherby in South Australia. It is administered by the Department of Education, with an enrolment of 1,562 students and a teaching staff of 114, as ...

and

Prince Alfred College Prince Alfred College is a private, independent, day school, day and boarding school for boys, located on Dequetteville Terrace, Kent Town, South Australia, Kent Town, near the Adelaide city centre, centre of Adelaide, South Australia. One of th ...

, he entered 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 1959. On graduation in 1961, he received a

commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the

Royal Australian Artillery The Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery, normally referred to as the Royal Australian Artillery (RAA), is a Regiment of the Australian Army descended from the original colonial artillery units prior to Australia's federation. Australia's f ...

. Gower wed Heather Eunice on 3 July 1965; the couple have one daughter.

AWM Director

Gower was appointed the Director of the

in 1996. He continued in this role until November 2011 when he took full-time carer's leave.

Nola Anderson Nola Anderson is an Australian museum professional, academic, and arts writer. She worked at the Australian War Memorial (AWM) for 25 years, and was one of its assistant directors from 2003 until 2011. She served as the acting Director of the memo ...

served as acting director until December 2012 when

Brendan Nelson Brendan John Nelson (born 19 August 1958) is an Australian business leader, physician and former politician. He served as the federal Leader of the Opposition from 2007 to 2008, going on to serve as Australia's senior diplomat to the European ...

became the new director of the institution.

Bibliography

Books

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gower, Stephen 1940 births Australian generals Australian military historians Australian military personnel of the Vietnam War Australian public servants Living people Officers of the Order of Australia Military personnel from Adelaide University of Adelaide alumni Royal Military College, Duntroon graduates Australian War Memorial People educated at Unley High School