From the battlefield to the boardroom: the legacy of a veteran bank CEO

Kim Eberhard
10:00am April 24 2025

Thomas Baker Heffer in the 1919 Roll of Honour and in 1945 when he was appointed CEO of the Bank of New South Wales. (Westpac Archives)

We pause this Anzac Day to reflect on the service and sacrifice of the men and women involved in war, including the 418 Bank of New South Wales (now Westpac) employees who lost their lives in WWI and WWII.

Among the bank's 793 staff to enlist in WWI was Thomas Baker Heffer, a New Zealander who joined the bank aged 18. By the time he enlisted in 1915, he was relatively senior in the bank and almost 30, slightly older than most of his fellow volunteers. Sporting a tattoo devoted to his beloved AOTEA-ROA, he was probably not much like his fellow bank officers, either!

Heffer embarked for Egypt in December 1915 and was ‘taken on strength’ in France on 1 July 1916, just in time to participate in the Battle of the Somme, one of the largest land battles ever fought.

He was badly wounded in February 1917 when a bomb fragment pierced his left thigh, severing the femoral artery. The wound became septic (unsurprising given the mud and very primitive medical facilities) and he was sent to England in an attempt to save his life.

Recovery was slow; and he was left with a permanent limp. Determined to return to the front line, Heffer rejoined his unit in November 1917. The following August he was wounded again, this time in the spine. Despite multiple surgeries, the shrapnel could not be removed, leaving him with restricted use of his right leg as well as ongoing back pain.

Invalided back to Sydney, Heffer resumed duty at the bank in July 1919. There was little sympathy for his experiences or his impaired mobility – the war was over, the Spanish flu was raging, and there was work to be done.

Fast forward 20 years, and the world was once again at war. By then, Heffer had risen to the position of Deputy General Manager. His particular concern was the staff – supporting those who enlisted in the armed forces and ensuring that the bank complied with stringent labour restrictions imposed by the government in aid of the war effort.

When Alfred Davidson retired in June 1945, Heffer was appointed CEO – just in time to oversee the welfare of the men and women returning from WWII.

His first message to staff reflected those concerns:

"Our service men are now coming back to us in small numbers …. Many of these men will feel for some time the effects of their war service, and all will take time to adjust themselves to civilian conditions…. I earnestly ask you all to do your best to ensure that these men settle down as quickly and comfortably as possible. It is our privilege as well as our duty to take them in hand when they rejoin the Bank…."

Heffer used his own experiences and empathy to support the returned servicemen and women of the bank. He implemented a rehabilitation program which include training on new methods, support for physical and mental health, and simple things such as placing staff in branches close to home or family to minimise difficult logistics in getting to and from work.

Heffer personally oversaw this program, which continued for 11 years until 1956. It became the blueprint for Westpac’s approach to returned service men and women and was the basis of the approach taken in support of those who had served in Vietnam during the 1960s and 1970s.

Empathy and compassion are Heffer’s lasting legacy.

Lest we forget.

Kim Eberhard

As Westpac's head of historical services, Kim has responsibility for managing the bank's corporate archives – the largest privately held archives in the Southern Hemisphere. Having commenced her career in media and journalism, Kim found her passion in historical research and documentary heritage and, prior to joining Westpac in 2015, has held a number of archivist and research roles, and was President of the Australian Society of Archivists.

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