Donald was born on 19 May 1927 in the township of Toowoomba in Queensland, Australia. Growing up, he attended Toowoomba Grammar School and took a keen interest in the scouts as well as being proficient in sports.  Throughout his life he would continue to actively play rugby, cricket, polo and squash. At the end of 1944 he finished his schooling and was selected to attend the RMC Duntroon starting in February 1945.

Donald graduated in December of 1948 and was commissioned a Lieutenant in the Royal Australian Artillery (RAA) in December 1948. He went on to complete a Young Officers Course at the School of Artillery before being posted to A Battery in Hiro Japan as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force. During his stint in Japan, he became the Assistant Command Post Officer. He eventually returned to the School of Artillery located at North Head, Sydney before joining the 1st Field Regiment at Georges Heights and in 1950 he was appointed Adjutant of the Regiment. It was also during this time that he would begin courting Anne, whom he would later marry in October of 1951.

 A year later, he was selected to undertake a posting with the 16th Field Regiment New Zealand Artillery and arrived in Korea on the 20th of October 1952. Donald initially served as a Forward Observer before being made adjutant of the regiment. For his meritorious service in Korea Captain Don Weir was awarded an MBE. He remained in Korea until June of 1953, when he rotated back to Australia to take up a posting with the 3rd Field Regiment, a unit within the CMF.

In October of 1954, He and his family moved to the UK where he underwent a 12 month course in gunnery. This time his training was in Air Defence, which was followed by a further posting back to the School of Artillery and promotion to Major as the Senior Instructor in the Air Defence Wing. In 1959, he once more moved abroad with his family to undertake further training at the staff school in Pakistan. Upon completion of the course he was able to put his training to good use when he held a short staff posting in Army Headquarters (AHQ) as the G2 Weapons Policy in the Directorate of Staff Duties. The posting was short lived and between 1961-1962 he served as the commander of A Battery now at Holsworthy Barracks. This was followed by a promotion to becoming the Brigade Major Royal Artillery at Headquarters 1st Australian Division.

By mid 1970 Donald had been promoted to Colonel and was appointed as the Deputy Commander 1st Australian Task Force in Nui Dat, Vietnam in November, 1971. He served for 11 months in the role and by the time his tour was over he received a honours promotion to the rank of Commander in the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Donald returned to Australia and was appointed as the Director Royal Artillery (DRA) with the task of re-establishing the RAA for its likely role post Vietnam, but soon after in 1973 was promoted to Brigadier and made the Assistant Chief of Personnel for the Army. In this role one major task undertaken was a tri-service review of the Defence Force Retirement Benefit Scheme before he was posted overseas once again in 1974 to attend the Royal College of Defence Studies in London. His final posting came in 1974 and was as the Commander 6th Task Force based in Brisbane, which lasted until 1978. Despite his potential and preparation for the highest command, Brigadier Weir decided to resign from the Army in March 1978 at the age of 51.

His eldest son Bryan describes his life after the military:

“(They) moved to a rural property at Lower Wonga in Queensland.  There he and Mum raised cattle and brown snakes, as well as entertaining visiting sons and daughters, and a growing number of grandchildren.  Dad became a water diviner, had a pet kangaroo, rode his horse to voting polls on election day and enjoyed seeing his cattle achieve top price at the local cattle sales.

In 1988, after 10 years as farmers, Mum and Dad decided the time had come to retire again and move closer to family.  This time they moved to Matcham, where Mum supervised the construction of a house on a 5-acre block. This would become their HQ for the next 10 years, and we all have fond memories of family meals, swimming in the pool, playing short course golf around the house.  Dad invariably won the golf.  He had great touch with a 7 iron and knew where all the traps were! Mum and Dad moved to Taragal Glen at Erina, near Gosford NSW in 1998.  Dad joined the bowling club and played bowls until his health prevented it, working behind the bar on occasions.  He became involved in Legacy and served as President of the local branch.  He took art classes and enjoyed painting.”

His service in Legacy has been reported as follows “Don Weir joined the Brisbane Water (NSW) Legacy Club in 1989, He was a past Chairman of the Family Welfare Committee, served as a member of the Board of Directors and was the President from 1999-2000.  He was elected as a Reserve (Honorary) member in 2006 and remained so until his death (in 2016)”.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

 The main source for all information in the biography comes from an article written by Major General Tim Ford AO, for the website artilleryhistory.org. Click HERE to see the original article.