Eric Woodward

Infobox Officeholder
honorific-prefix = Lieutenant General The Honourable

name = Sir Eric Woodward

honorific-suffix = KCMG KCVO CB CBE DSO


imagesize =
small

caption =
order = 31^st
office = Governor of New South Wales
term_start = 1 August 1957
term_end = 1 August 1965
predecessor = Sir John Northcott
successor = Sir Roden Cutler
birth_date = birth date|1899|7|21|df=y
birth_place = Hay, New South Wales
death_date = Death date and age|1969|12|29|1899|7|21|df=yes
death_place = Sydney, New South Wales
birthname =
nationality = Australian
spouse =
nickname =
allegiance = Australia
branch = Australian Army
serviceyears = 1920–1957
rank = Lieutenant General
commands =
battles = World War II
*North African Campaign
*El Alamein
awards = Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
Companion of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Distinguished Service Order
Mentioned in Despatches
Lieutenant General Sir Eric Winslow Woodward, KCMG, KCVO, CB, CBE, DSO (21 July 1899 – 29 December 1967). Woodward was the Governor of New South Wales from August 1, 1957 to August 1, 1965.

Eric attended Toowoomba Grammar School and in 1917 he entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Australian Capital Territory. He graduated and was commissioned lieutenant in 1920. During World War Two he rose quickly through the ranks, serving in North Africa and the Middle East.

In 1948 he attended the Imperial Defence College. In 1952 he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire Promoted to lieutenant general n December 1953, he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath.

When Sir John Northcott's term as Governor of New South Wales drew to a close, Premier John Cahill sought another Australian-born military officer to succeed him. He chose Woodward, who assumed office on 1 August 1957. The thirty-first governor of New South Wales, he was the first to have been born there. Appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (1958) and Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (1963), he was awarded honorary doctorates by the universities of New South Wales (1958), Sydney (1959) and New England (1961). On the 24th October 1964, he officially opened the Forest High School.

Woodward died on 29 December 1967 at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown and was given a state funeral with full military honours.

External links

* [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160695b.htm Eric Woodward] at "Australian Dictionary of Biography"