 Blamey arrived back in Australia on 20 October 1919 after an absence of seven years , and became director of Military Operations at Army Headquarters in Melbourne . His AIF appointment was terminated on 19 December 1919 , but he retained his wartime rank of a brigadier general as an honorary rank . He was promoted to a substantive colonel in January 1920 , and in May 1920 was appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff . 
