Lieutenant General Sir Carl Herman Jess, CB, CMG, CBE, DSO (16 February 1884 – 16 June 1948) was an Australian Army officer who served in the First and Second World Wars.

On 7 June 1906, he resigned from the militia and the Victorian Education Department in order to take up a position with the Instructional Staff of the permanent forces.

He joined the Australian Imperial Force himself in Melbourne on 23 September 1914, having been selected for the post of staff captain with the 4th Infantry Brigade by Colonel John Monash.

He was gassed at Pozières and refused to leave his post and for this he was twice Mentioned in Despatches and awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) on 1 January 1917.

On termination of his AIF appointment on 21 January 1920, Jess reverted to his permanent rank of lieutenant colonel.

He attended the Staff College at Camberley, and after the birth of his first son, Carl McGibbon Jess in 1921, he and his family returned to Australia, receiving a civic welcome from his home town of Bendigo.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, Jess was awarded the Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in June 1939,[6] and promoted to lieutenant general on 12 December 1939.

As Adjutant General, Jess had been appointed chairman of the Department of Defence's Manpower Committee in September 1938 and was responsible for greatly increasing the size of the militia.

When Blamey was appointed to command the 6th Division in September 1939, Jess transferred from Adjutant General to this post.

After leaving the Department of Labour and National Service in March 1944, Jess became involved in a survey and classification of army records, compiling a report of the activities of the AMF from 1929 to 1939.

He died from pulmonary tuberculosis at the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital in Melbourne on 16 June 1948 and was cremated with full military honours .

Jess was also a prolific artist; when he joined the Victorian Volunteer Cadets in 1899, he started making artworks of the uniforms of various units.

Carl Herman Jess married Marjorie Mary McGibbon at St Luke's Anglican Church, North Fitzroy, Melbourne, on 15 July 1914.