thereafter, Blamey was faced with a limited number of senior appointments and more senior officers than he needed to fill them. He faced public and political criticism over "shelving" senior officers, including Robertson. That Robertson and Bennett, two troublesome potential rivals of Blamey's, had been sent to Western Australia did not escape comment. However, it was always more likely that Robertson would be the one recalled. Nevertheless, Blamey had serious concerns about Robertson's health, after the latter was hospitalised with internal haemorrhaging in July 1944 and sent to the eastern states to convalesce. While there he joined Vasey and Brigadier Bertrand Coombes, the Commandant of Duntroon, in conducting an inquiry into the future training and organisation of the Royal Military College. Their report, submitted to Blamey in January 1945, called for a number of reforms, the most significant being that the postings of regular officers should alternate between staff and regimental duties. New Guinea In April 1945, Robertson returned to the field, replacing Alan Ramsay as commander of the 5th Division, which was then engaged in the final stages of the New Britain Campaign. In July, Robertson became commander of the 6th Division, leading it through the final days of the Aitape–Wewak Campaign. On 13 September 1945, Robertson accepted the surrender of Lieutenant General Hatazō Adachi, and his Japanese Eighteenth Army. In December 1945, Robertson took over command of the First Army, becoming one of a select number of Australians to command such a formation, at least on paper, with the rank of lieutenant general. For the final campaigns, Robertson was mentioned in despatches a fourth time. Post-war career British Commonwealth Occupation Force Robertson returned to Australia in March 1946 to take over Southern Command. In June he was appointed to replace Lieutenant General John Northcott as commander of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) in the occupation of Japan. Northcott had negotiated the Northcott-MacArthur agreement in January 1946 with General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, which governed the terms and conditions under which the BCOF would occupy part of Japan. They agreed that the BCOF would serve under American command, with American policy being followed. It remained to make the occupation work. Robertson had a poor relationship with the British component commander, Major General David Tennant Cowan, who resented being placed under an Australian officer. "It did not occur to me", Robertson later wrote, "that officers of the British