# Cyril Chambers > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Cyril_Chambers > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Cyril_Chambers.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_Chambers > Source revision: 1349605587 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Australian politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}} {{Use Australian English|date=December 2015}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = [The Honourable](/source/The_Honourable) | name = Cyril Chambers | honorific_suffix = [CBE](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire) | image = Cyril_Chambers.png | office = [Minister for the Army](/source/Minister_for_the_Army_(Australia)) | prime_minister = [Ben Chifley](/source/Ben_Chifley) | predecessor = [Frank Forde](/source/Frank_Forde) | successor = [Josiah Francis](/source/Josiah_Francis) | term_start = 1 November 1946 | term_end = 19 December 1949 | constituency_MP2 = [Adelaide](/source/Division_of_Adelaide) | parliament2 = Australian | predecessor2 = [Fred Stacey](/source/Fred_Stacey) | successor2 = [Joe Sexton](/source/Joe_Sexton) | term_start2 = 21 August 1943 | term_end2 = 14 October 1958 | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1897|2|28}} | birth_place = [Thebarton, South Australia](/source/Thebarton%2C_South_Australia) | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1975|10|3|1897|2|28}} | death_place = [Hawthorn, South Australia](/source/Hawthorn%2C_South_Australia) | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Hilda Mummery|1938|1943}} * {{marriage|Salamas Rickman|1949|1954}} * {{marriage|Janet Pullen|1956}} }} | party = [Labor](/source/Australian_Labor_Party) (to 1957; after 1958)
Independent (1957–58) | relations = | children = | alma_mater = | occupation = Dentist | profession = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Cyril Chambers''' [CBE](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire) (1897–1975) was an Australian politician who served as a member of the [House of Representatives](/source/Australian_House_of_Representatives) from 1943 to 1958, representing the [Labor Party](/source/Australian_Labor_Party). He was [Minister for the Army](/source/Minister_for_the_Army_(Australia)) in the [Chifley government](/source/Chifley_government) from 1946 to 1949. ==Early life== Chambers was born in the [Adelaide](/source/Adelaide) suburb of [Thebarton](/source/Thebarton%2C_South_Australia) on 28 February 1897. He was educated at St John the Baptist's School, Thebarton, and Hayward's Academy, Adelaide. In 1919 he became a dentist. He was mayor of [Henley and Grange](/source/City_of_Henley_and_Grange) from 1932 to 1934. In 1938, he married Hilda Dorothy Mummery. During [World War II](/source/World_War_II), he served in the 3rd Field Ambulance in [New Guinea](/source/New_Guinea_campaign), but was soon invalided back to Adelaide.{{Australian Dictionary of Biography |last= Cameron |first= Clyde |authorlink=Clyde Cameron |year=1993 |id=A130441b |title= Chambers, Cyril (1897 - 1975) |accessdate=2008-01-27 }} ==Political career== Chambers was elected as the [Labor](/source/Australian_Labor_Party) member of the [House of Representatives](/source/Australian_House_of_Representatives) seat of [Adelaide](/source/Division_of_Adelaide) at the [1943 election](/source/1943_Australian_federal_election) and was appointed [Minister for the Army](/source/Minister_for_Defence_(Australia)) following the [1946 election](/source/1946_Australian_federal_election) in the [second Chifley ministry](/source/second_Chifley_Ministry). In July 1949 he ordered troops to mine coal in the [New South Wales](/source/New_South_Wales) to break a [strike](/source/1949_Australian_coal_strike) by the then [communist](/source/Communist_Party_of_Australia)-influenced [Australian Coal and Shale Employees' Federation](/source/Australian_Coal_and_Shale_Employees'_Federation). The Labor government lost power at the [1949 election](/source/1949_Australian_federal_election). Chambers' first wife had died in 1943 and in December 1949, he married a divorcee, Salamas Rickman, despite his generally strict Catholicism. She died in 1954 and in October 1956 he married Janet Sanderson Pullen. In 1951, he refused to take part in Labor's campaign against the [1951 anti-communist referendum](/source/1951_Australian_referendum) and would have been expelled from the party except for the intervention of party leader [H.V. Evatt](/source/H.V._Evatt). On 8 August 1957, Chambers publicly called on Evatt to resign as party leader, accusing him of "fomenting discord wherever he goes" and of contributing to the party's loss at the [1957 Queensland state election](/source/1957_Queensland_state_election).{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/91595507|title=Dr. Evatt Blamed For State Defeat|newspaper=[The Canberra Times](/source/The_Canberra_Times)|date=9 August 1957}} On 27 August he announced his intention to move a [motion of no confidence](/source/motion_of_no_confidence) in Evatt's leadership.{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/91597021|title=Chambers Moves Against Evatt|newspaper=[The Canberra Times](/source/The_Canberra_Times)|date=28 August 1957}} However, on 19 September he was expelled from the ALP by the state council of the South Australian branch.{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/91237861|title=Mr. Chambers Expelled From Party|newspaper=[The Canberra Times](/source/The_Canberra_Times)|date=20 September 1957}} Chambers sat as an independent until 16 June 1958, when he was re-admitted to the Labor Party.{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/136300120|title=Party Readmits Mr. Chambers|newspaper=[The Canberra Times](/source/The_Canberra_Times)|date=17 June 1958}} By that time [Joe Sexton](/source/Joe_Sexton) had already won [preselection](/source/preselection) for Adelaide at the [1958 federal election](/source/1958_Australian_federal_election). It was too late for Chambers to nominate for another seat, and he was forced to retire. ==Later life== Chambers worked as an immigration selection officer in [Belfast](/source/Belfast), [Rome](/source/Rome) and [Scotland](/source/Scotland) from 1959 to 1962 and then worked in Adelaide as a welfare consultant. In 1968, he was made a Commander of the [Order of the British Empire](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire) (CBE). He died in [Hawthorn, South Australia](/source/Hawthorn%2C_South_Australia), survived by his third wife, but he had no children. ==Notes== {{Reflist}} {{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef | before= [Frank Forde](/source/Frank_Forde) }} {{s-ttl | title= [Minister for the Army](/source/Minister_for_Defence_(Australia)) | years=1946–1949 }} {{s-aft | after=[Josiah Francis](/source/Josiah_Francis) }} {{s-par | au}} {{s-bef | before=[Fred Stacey](/source/Fred_Stacey) }} {{s-ttl | title= Member for [Adelaide](/source/Division_of_Adelaide) | years=1943–1958}} {{s-aft | after=[Joe Sexton](/source/Joe_Sexton) }} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Chambers, Cyril}} Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Adelaide Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives Category:Members of the Cabinet of Australia Category:1897 births Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:1975 deaths Category:Independent members of the Parliament of Australia Category:Politicians from Adelaide Category:Mayors of places in South Australia Category:20th-century Australian dentists Category:Australian MPs 1943–1946 Category:Australian MPs 1946–1949 Category:Australian MPs 1949–1951 Category:Australian MPs 1951–1954 Category:Australian MPs 1954–1955 Category:Australian MPs 1955–1958 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Cyril Chambers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_Chambers) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_Chambers?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.