Lt Col John Bruce (Establishment-4^th Nov 1870)

Lt Col John Bruce was born in Athlone, Ireland on the 25^th July 1808 to Scottish Parents. He was educated at the Military College, Sandhurst and appointed an Ensign in the 16^th Regiment in India on the 31^st July 1828 at 20 years old. He became a Lieutenant in 1831 and married Johannah Jacoba Herklotz of Dutch ancestry. He joined the 18^th Regiment in 1840 as he wanted to see active service in the First Opium War. However once he arrived the war had ceased and he was tasked with admin duties for the next 3 and a half years. During this time he was promoted to Captain

He finally managed to see active service in 1847 when he took part in the fight for Canton in which he served with distinction. He returned to England and was posted as a staff officer at Tilbury for the next 3 years. In 1850 when the war office called for applications for the post of staff officer to the Pensioner Force being formed for the Penal Colony of Western Australia he applied and was selected. He arrived in W.A. on the transport Hashemy on the 25^th Oct 1850 with his Wife, 5 Daughters and 1 son.

He worked incredibly hard to keep the troops well maintained and supplied and founded the Pensioner’s Benevolent Fund in 1855. By 1854 he had been promoted to Major and became the CO of the Pensioners and when the Western Australian Volunteer Force was formed in 1861 he immediately became the commanding Officer and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.

During his leadership he oversaw the creation of the Volunteers and the permanent creation of the Perth Infantry, Fremantle Infantry and Pinjarra Mounted Infantry. Overall he seems to have been an incredibly effective administrator. He suddenly died in 1870 at the age of 62 and was buried with military honours.

Since 1854 he had been appointed to the colony’s executive Council and for a period of nearly a year In 1868-1869 served as the Governor of the colony.  He acquired the property now known as Nedlands naming after his son Edward. He was active in the founding of the Mechanics Institute, Perth Building Society and doing unpaid work for benevolent societies. His wife outlived him to 1904 at the age of 94. Mount Bruce the highest point in the colony was named in his honour in 1881.

Cpt Charles Finnerty (15^th Aug 1871- 14^th Aug 1872)

Charles Finnerty was born in Bumlin, Ireland on the 4^th May 1815 a relatively poor town of 5,000. He Joined the 47^th Regiment of the British Army  as a private on the 12^th August 1833. For his first 10 years he served in peace abroad in Gibraltar, Malta and the West Indies before being based in Lancashire and Ireland for the next decade. He was promoted to Corporal in 1837, Sergeant later in the year and Sergeant Major by 1850 and within seven months was promoted to Ensign without needing to pay for a commission.

On the 23^rd March 1854 he departed Malta still as an Ensign for service in the Crimean War with his Regiment. He saw out his service in Scutari Hospital where he was promoted to Lieutenant by June. Finnerty during this time was an effective administrator and served alongside Florence Nightingale in attending the wounded men. He served until July 1856 when he was returned to Malta with the rest of his regiment. He was then promoted to Captain in 1857 and was the commanding officer of a Company before leaving the regiment in 1859.

He had married Elizabeth Mathews in Malta on the 11^th July 1839 and proceeded over the next 17 Years to have 4 Boys and 3 Girls with 1 Boy dying at age 5 and his 6 Month old Daughter dying in the Crimean War. After leaving the Regiment he and his family headed for the Enrolled Pensioner Force as a staff officer In 1859. The day that the ship crossed the Equator his wife gave birth to their third daughter which had been her second birth at sea. Charles’s 2 brothers joined the New Zealand Fencibles around this time.

During his time as commandant of the Volunteers he managed to rebuild the Perth Infantry and Fremantle Infantry being a capable administrator as well as the creation of the Perth Artillery. The Volunteers expanded from 200 to 250 Personnel in his time as commandant. Later on in 1876 he took part in the Catalpa Rescue. Up until 1880 he continued to serve as a Staff Officer in the Volunteers becoming a Lieutenant Colonel in 1878 and retiring with the honorary rank of Colonel in 1881. Unfortunately, he died on the 18^th December 1881 at age 66 from Apoplexy.

Lt Col Edward Douglas Harvest (15^th August 1872- 16^th Nov 1880)

Lt Col Edward Douglas Harvest was born on November 20^th 1824. He received his commission in 1842, became the CO of the 97^th Foot before eventually retiring with the honorary rank of Major General in 1881. He is mentioned in Newspapers as being a very popular commandant. He Oversaw a great period in which the Geraldton Infantry, Albany Infantry, Guildford Infantry, York Infantry, Fremantle Artillery and Wellington Mounted Infantry were formed. Due to all these successes he oversaw a period of rapid growth from a strength of ~250 to a strength of ~500 and for this he must be heartily commended.

Major Edric Gifford VC (17^th Nov 1880- 2^nd Jun 1882)

Edric Gifford was born in London in 1849 to his father the 2^nd Baron Gifford making Edric the 3^rd Barron. His brother was Maurice Gifford who was awarded the CMG for his raising of Gifford’s Horse in the 2^nd Matabele War. He was educated at Harrow school and in 1869 joined the British Army’s 83^rd Regiment. By 1874 he was a Lieutnenant in the 24^th Regiment during the third Anglo-Ashanti War in West Africa. It was in this conflict that he was awarded the VC.

For his gallant conduct during the operations, and especially at the taking of Becquah. The Officer commanding the Expeditionary Force reports that Lord Gifford was in charge of the Scouts after the Army crossed the Prah,’ and that it is no exaggeration to say that since the Adansi Hills were passed, he daily carried his life in his hand in the performance of his most dangerous duties. He hung upon the rear of the enemy, discovering their position, and ferreting out their intentions. With no other white man with him, he captured numerous prisoners; but Sir Garnet Wolseley brings Him forward for this mark of Royal favour most especially for his conduct at the taking of Becquah, into which place he penetrated with his scouts before the troops carried it, when his gallantry and courage were most conspicuous.

In 1876 he left the 24^th and joined the 57^th Regiment where he was posted to Cyprus before in 1879 he deployed to the Anglo-Zulu War as aide-de-camp to Field Marshal Garnet Wolseley. He then retired from the army with the rank of Major. In 1880 he married Sophia Catherine Street the daughter of General John Alfred Street and set forth to Western Australia to take up the post of Colonial Secreatary and became a member of the legislative council.

His time as commanding officer of the Volunteers was not a good one with both the Pinjarra and Wellington Mounted Infantry’s being disbanded bringing the volunteers total numbers to around 400. He left the colony in 1883 following disputes with many colonial elites and later became the colonial secretary of Gibraltar form 1883-1887 and in 1889 becoming the director of the British South Africa Company. He died in 1911 at the age of 61.

Col Alexander Wilson KCB (12^th Sep 1895- 31^st Oct 1898)

Colonel Alexander Wilson was born on the 29^th October 1858 in Framsden, England. He joined the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders as an officer in 1879 where he saw action in the Zulu War. By 1895 he had risen to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and commanded the 1^st Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. In 1895 he was promoted to Colonel and given command of the WADF. He left this command to return to the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in 1898 where he saw action in the 2^nd Boer War and commanded the 1^st Battalion in the Battle of Magersfontein.

 In WW1 he was promoted to Major General and commanded the Indian Expeditionary Force E in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. After the war he was given command of his old regiment and made Lieutenant Governor of Jersey. Additionally he was appointed a KCB. During his time as commandant the WADF modernised quickly and grew well in size.