On Anzac Day, I had the pleasure of attending the service at Dunolly.This was well organised, respectful and solemn.
Whilst marching I thought of Gallipoli and Sir John Monash, a great Australian. Prior to the outbreak of WW1 Monash was a highly regarded civil engineer, but it was with the outbreak of war that he came to prominence.
As commander of the Australian 4th Brigade, Monash saw action at Gallipoli and Passchendaele, both having a profound effect on him. Later he was promoted to Commander of the entire Australian Corps on the Western Front. Monash’s crowning achievement was the “Hamel Offensive’.
His meticulous planning for the battle was based on the coordinated use of infantry, aircraft, tanks and artillery, that saw a quantum shift in how wars were fought. Monash planned for the battle to last 90 minutes, in actuality it lasted 93.
The brilliance of the victory at Hamel was credited with ensuring an Allied victory and shortening WW1.
King George V travelled to France to knight Monash ‘in the field’, the first time this had been done since 1743. Sent to London at war’s end, Monash was feted by London Society. The King, US President Wilson, Churchill, and many others were universal in their praise, stating that Monash was the only general of creative originality produced by WW1.
Monash returned to a hero’s welcome in Australia, but at official level he was treated disgracefully.
Arriving in Melbourne he was greeted by thousands of returned soldiers who had served under his command and he was carried shoulder high along St. Kilda Pier to universal acclaim.
To officialdom’s eternal shame Monash was all but ignored from all formal celebrations.
He was a principal proposer of our annual observance of Anzac Day, and personally oversaw the planning for Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance. The esteem for which the Australian People hold this man in is demonstrated by the many honours bestowed: City of Monash, Monash University, Monash Freeway, etc., and his face appears on Australia’s highest currency, $100 note.
This is a man whose deeds should be known and celebrated by all Australians.
