 Some of the reasons for Blamey 's lack of popularity with several of the Ministers and part of the public can probably be discovered only by exploring traits in the Australian national character of those days ; other reasons are easier to unearth . Throughout the war Blamey commanded an army whose senior appointments were shared between regular and citizen officers . In some places this created tensions and rivalry which adversely affected Blamey 's reputation , through no fault of his own ; also the ambiguous relationship between his headquarters and MacArthur 's led to disagreements of which at least the Ministers were aware . A man of greater tact , however , could have managed these problems more smoothly . But Blamey was not a man of great tact . 
