A Rhodes scholar, Herring was at New College, Oxford, when the First World War broke out and served with the Royal Field Artillery on the Macedonian front, for which he was awarded the Military Cross and Distinguished Service Order.

[5] For his courage under heavy shellfire, Herring received an immediate award of the Military Cross (MC), the citation for which reads: For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty.

[7] Herring departed for Salonika in February, returning to duty there in March 1918, and was promoted to acting major on 24 October 1918 on assuming command of B Battery, 99th Field Artillery Brigade.

[13] Herring was admitted to practice in Victoria as a barrister and solicitor on 1 March 1921 and signed the roll of counsel of the Victorian Bar on 8 June of that year; Mary graduated with her Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MB BS) and became a resident surgeon at Royal Melbourne Hospital.

[14] Herring joined the Australian Army on 1 October 1922 as a legal staff officer in the part-time militia, with the rank of captain.

Composed primarily of former soldiers, the White Guard saw themselves as defenders of order who stood ready to stop a Catholic or Communist revolution in the wake of an emergency like the 1923 Victorian Police strike.

[20] On 6 October 1939, Herring was informed that Major General Sir Thomas Blamey had decided to appoint him as Commander, Royal Artillery, of the 6th Division, of the new Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF) being raised for service overseas.

In building up the artillery plan, Herring brought to bear the same thorough, relentless logic and attention to detail with which he had so often built up a legal argument.

[24] His Australian, New Zealand and British gunners demonstrated "the extent to which, in such rugged country, artillery, with reliable infantry ahead, could halt and confuse a pursuer"[25] but they were unable to stop the enemy advance.

[26] Herring and fellow Brigadier Clive Steele were among 5,100 that managed to reach Crete on the Royal Navy transport HMS Glenearn.

As supply by sea or air was impractical, Herring developed a land line of communications running across the outback from Alice Springs.

[30] On 14 August 1942, Herring was ordered to Esk, Queensland, to assume command of II Corps with the temporary rank of lieutenant general.

At this time he was criticised in Federal Parliament by Arthur Calwell for allegedly issuing a verbal order while commander of the 6th Division that no officer was to be commissioned unless they had at least attained an Intermediate Certificate.

[31] In the wake of the dismissal of Lieutenant General Sydney Rowell for insubordination, Blamey ordered Herring to join him in Port Moresby as the new commander of I Corps.

Herring acknowledged that the two men had faced a difficult task but felt that they were tired and that Brigadier Ivan Dougherty and Major General Vasey could do better.

Supporters of Allen, who left school at age 14, saw this as the action of an autocratic elitist who "ran his staff as he had controlled junior counsel in his barrister's chamber; they did his bidding, his way, or were forthwith dispensed with".

Blamey intended to have Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead command the subsequent phase of the operation, the assault on Madang.

Naval Historian Samuel Eliot Morison noted: "The Australians proved to be right; 'Uncle Dan's' outfit was not prepared for a neat night landing.

[42] In the subsequent Battle of Finschhafen, it soon became clear that the strength of the Japanese forces there had been seriously underestimated, and the 9th Division needed to be resupplied and reinforced, and its casualties evacuated.

Herring strove to get the necessary amphibious lift from the navy but the commander of the United States Seventh Fleet, Vice Admiral Arthur S. Carpender, was reluctant to expose his ships to the Japanese air threat.

On 28 September, Herring and two of his staff officers, Brigadiers R. B. Sutherland and R. Bierwirth, boarded a U.S. Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchell bomber at Dobodura.

A propeller shattered, splinters ripped through the fuselage into the cabin and Sutherland, who was sitting in the navigator's compartment next to Herring, was struck by a flying fragment that killed him instantly.

[44] Mackay became convinced that Herring was becoming increasingly difficult to work with as a result of stress and fatigue and asked Blamey for permission to relieve him.

He created the 1st Beach Group and developed tactics and doctrine for amphibious operations based on his own experience in the New Guinea Campaign and reports from the Allied invasion of Sicily.

Herring was recalled to duty for a year as Director General of Recruiting in August 1950 when the Korean War spurred efforts to build up the Army again.

He obtained government backing for his idea, and arranged for more than twenty former American generals, including Leif J. Sverdrup, Hugh John Casey, William C. Chase and Clyde D. Eddleman and their wives, to visit Australia in 1974, with commemorative functions being held in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

Herring retired as Chief Justice in 1964 but stayed on as Lieutenant Governor until his 80th birthday in 1972, serving in the position for a record 27 years.

[54] In a speech given on the occasion of his retiring as Chief Justice of Victoria, Herring said: And now the time has come for me to lay down my office, but before I do so there are two matters to which I feel bound to draw attention.

[55]While opening the Victorian Returned Services League Conference shortly before his retirement as Lieutenant Governor, Herring criticised anti-war protesters and praised Australian soldiers who had served in the Vietnam War.

He was given a state funeral at St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, planned by his wife, Dame Mary Ranken Herring, who had died three months before.