John David Rogers

John David Rogers
John David Rogers
	As a major in July 1940
Born	29 April 1895; Penguin, Tasmania
Died	10 April 1978 (aged 82); Caulfield, Victoria
Branch	Australian Army
Service years	1914–1920, 1940–1945
Rank	Brigadier
Service number	VX40124
Conflicts	First World War Gallipoli campaign Landing at Anzac Cove; Second Battle of Krithia; ; Western Front Battle of Pozieres; Battle of Passchendaele; Battle of Hamel; Hundred Days Offensive; ; ; Second World War Western Desert campaign; Greek campaign; Syria-Lebanon campaign; New Guinea campaign; Borneo campaign; ;
Awards	Commander of the Order of the British Empire; Officer of the Order of the British Empire; Military Cross; Mention in Despatches; Croix de Guerre (Belgium);
Relations	James Stanley Rogers

John David Rogers, CBE, MC, ED (29 April 1895 – 10 April 1978) was an Australian Army brigadier. During the First World War he served in the Gallipoli campaign and on the Western Front, where he was awarded the Military Cross. During the Second World War he was the Australian Army's Director of Military Intelligence. He represented Australia at the Japanese surrender at Singapore in September 1945.

A student at the University of Melbourne when the First World War broke out in August 1914, Rogers enlisted in the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF). He served with the 6th Battalion at Gallipoli, where he earned a commission as a second lieutenant, and on the Western Front, where he was promoted to captain. In February 1917 he was seconded to 1st Division Headquarters for training as a staff officer. He served on the general staff of the 1st Division and the Australian Corps under Brigadier General Thomas Blamey. Rogers returned to his studies after the war and became a chemist with the Vacuum Oil Company. He rose through the ranks of the company, becoming assistant general manager for New South Wales in 1935.

During the Second World War, Blamey offered Rogers a position on the new I Corps staff as an intelligence officer, and he joined the Second AIF in June 1940. During the Battle of Greece he supervised the evacuation of the corps from Greece. He became the Australian liaison officer at General Douglas MacArthur's General Headquarters in March 1942 before being appointed the Australian Army's Director of Military Intelligence (DMI) in July. His intelligence section frequently differed with that of GHQ over estimates of Japanese troop strength. In November 1944 he was forced to suspend publication of his Australian Military Forces Weekly Intelligence Review for three months after evidence emerged that it was reaching the Japanese via the Soviet Union's ambassador. After the war he returned to the Vacuum Oil Company as its general manager for New South Wales in 1945, deputy chairman in 1954 and chairman from 1958 to 1959.