Obituaries Australia

Tim Vincent, by Denis Gibbons, n.d.

Australian War Memorial, P04669.860

Major-General Douglas (Tim) Vincent, who was involved as a staff officer in planning for the D-Day landings, died suddenly at his Yarralumla home on Sunday. He was 79.

A Duntroon graduate in 1938, Major-General Vincent joined the Australian Imperial Force at the outbreak of the war and served as a regimental and staff officer in the Middle East, Britain and the South-West Pacific region.

He was one of the officers selected to travel to Britain and was involved as a staff officer in planning for Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings, in which he took part.

The national president of the Returned Services League, Digger James, said yesterday that Major-General Vincent was an outstanding thinker and forward planner.

"He had an enormous passion for the defence of Australia and even after his retirement from the army in 1975, kept himself up to speed on contemporary technical issues," Major-General James said.

"He maintained a vigorous argument for a greater helicopter airlift in northern Australia in the defence of the north."

In 1962 Major-General Vincent became commander of the Australian Armed Forces in the Far East, land forces in Malaya and Singapore between 1962 and 1963.

From 1967 to 1968 he was the commander of the Australian Force Vietnam, the leader of the task force and all the forces in Vietnam.

Between 1968 and 1970 he headed the Australian joint services staff in Washington DC, in the United States.

He returned to Australia in 1970 and for the next three years was Adjutant-General of the Australian army and a member of the army's military board.

After retiring in 1975, he worked as RSL defence adviser and chairman until 1993.

For the past two years he worked as the national trustee of the RSL.

He is survived by his widow Margaret (Sue) and their children.