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William Locke (general)

senior officer in the Australian Army during the Second World War (1894-1962)

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 6, 2026
Entity authorityQ55397020 ↗
Source-derived summary

Major General William James Macavoy Locke, MC (14 August 1894 – 3 April 1962) was a senior officer in the Australian Army during the Second World War and the immediate post-war period.

A graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Locke served in the First World War and spent much of the interwar period as a staff officer in Melbourne, Sydney and Tasmania. During the Second World War he commanded cavalry and armoured units at the brigade and division level, and was responsible for supervising the transition of many of Australia's mounted units to motorised and armoured formations. Locke finished his military career as Chairman of the Permanent Post-War Planning Committee (1944–1946).

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “William Locke (general)” as senior officer in the Australian Army during the Second World War (1894-1962). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around William, Locke and general.

Editorial reviewMost valuable as an event-and-institution map that identifies actors, dates and record creators for deeper historical inquiry. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1894, 1962, 1944, 1946—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1894-08-14. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with William, Locke and general providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “William Locke (general)”, the useful work is to connect “senior officer in the Australian Army during the Second World War (1894-1962)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q55397020. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1894, 1962, 1944 and 1946.

Critical limits

Later summaries often reconcile disputed chronology or motive more neatly than the contemporary record permits. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.

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  • Locating named record creators
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  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “William Locke (general)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.