Commemoration
Scotch Commemorates World War I
Monash in 1918: Scotch ' s model general
Sir John Monash( 1881), Scotch College’ s most famous alumnus, reached the peak of his illustrious military career 100 years ago this year. He had been an outstanding pupil at Scotch. He matriculated at just 14 in 1880, when he came second in mathematics and logic to another future general, James McCay( 1880). He and McCay became firm friends. At the invitation of the principal, Alexander Morrison, John returned to Scotch in 1881 and earned the position of equal dux. He developed a lifelong love of Scotch.
By the outbreak of war he had decided on engineering and soldiering as his‘ life’ s work’. The soldiering had hitherto been in a part-time capacity: he was a citizen-soldier. In 1884 John was an early recruit to the university company of the 4th Battalion, Victorian Rifles. He gained experience in the infantry, coastal artillery and military intelligence. Service alongside fellow Old Collegians James McCay and Julius Bruche( 1890) fostered his army career, but his own talent was also indispensable to his successes, and by 1913 he was a full Colonel in command of an infantry brigade. A visiting British General, Sir Ian Hamilton, future commander of British forces on Gallipoli, praised Monash’ s conduct of manoeuvres in 1914. John’ s 100 Hints for Company Commanders became a basic Australian training pamphlet.
For four weeks after the outbreak of war in August 1914 John Monash was the chief censor, but was then appointed to command the 4th Brigade of the newly-raised Australian Imperial Force. He directed the brigade’ s elementary training before it sailed overseas on 22 December 1914. Monash commanded the convoy of 17 ships, which reached Egypt in January 1915. His training methods impressed his superiors. Monash’ s brigade came ashore at Gallipoli the day after the landing, on 26 April.
He opposed the plan for the formation’ s first offensive, against Turkish positions at Baby 700, on 2 May. In official historian Charles Bean’ s words, the results of the unsuccessful attack left John‘ unstrung’. The brigade did its job in repulsing the big Turkish offensive of 19 May. In July 1915 Monash was promoted to
Brigadier, and this was tardy, for he had commanded the brigade for nearly a year. His German and Jewish background aroused some people’ s prejudices, and there were even rumours in Melbourne, London and Cairo that he had been shot as a German spy.
On 6 August 1915, as part of the August offensives on Gallipoli, the 4th Brigade attacked Hill 971. The attack failed and, in the words of the Oxford Companion to Australian Military History,‘ this was not Monash’ s finest hour’. However, that book also emphasises that the task set his force was beyond any troops. The 4th Brigade was later sent on two attacks towards Hill 60 that failed, at heavy cost. The brigade was withdrawn in September. Monash went to Egypt where he learned that he had been made a Companion of the Order of the Bath( CB). He returned to Gallipoli and was there at the evacuation.
After further training in Egypt and duty garrisoning the Suez Canal, Monash and his brigade were sent to France in June 1916. That month, John was promoted to Major-General and given command of the 3rd Australian Division, which was forming at Salisbury Plain in England. There was a saying that Monash‘ would command a division better than a brigade and a corps better than a division’, and he now had a chance to start proving this. With characteristic thoroughness he spent the next five months training his division. That formation had a remarkably low crime rate. John ensured that he looked the part of a general, showing great willpower in greatly reducing his weight, to 79 kilograms. Visitors to his division included King George V and Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig. By the time the 3rd Division was sent into the line in France in November 1916, it was as well prepared for action as a new formation could be. Monash was an enthusiastic proponent of trench raids, and he sent his men into these with alacrity in the following months.
John Monash and his division were under the command of a highly capable British commander in General Sir Herbert Plumer, who directed Monash’ s first major battle, at Messines in June 1917. Bean said that Monash‘ concentrated upon the plans with an amount of thought and care far beyond that ever devoted to any other [ AIF operation ].’ He gave orders down to platoon level and even enumerated the number of picks and shovels required in each battalion. Haig praised Monash as‘ a clear-headed, determined commander’. Not everything went well: some of his orders arrived at the front too late to be relevant, while on one occasion he unwittingly ordered artillery to fire on its own men. Despite such inevitable‘ fog of war’ incidents, the 3rd Division performed well, capturing all their objectives and many men and guns.
Monash and his division were sent into the Third Battle of Ypres on 4 October 1917, when once again his meticulous planning brought success and saved lives. He planned a series of advances, each shorter than the last and carried out by fresh troops. The 3rd Division made more progress than any other on 4 October and drove off enemy counterattacks. Unfortunately after being relieved and returning to action on 12 October, the division’ s fortunes plummeted. Monash did not have time to make his usual careful preparations and, amid pouring rain and great uncertainty about locations, seems to have made a mistake about where artillery support needed to be directed. Lacking artillery support, his division suffered 1800 casualties in this First Battle of Passchendaele. Nevertheless, Monash was probably correct in considering his division by this time‘ one of the Crack Divisions of the British Army’. The Australian divisions were withdrawn in late 1917, preparatory to being reorganised into an Australian Corps under General Sir William Birdwood. In the new year, Monash became a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath( KCB), an honour higher than a standard knighthood.
Monash and his division returned to action in March 1918 when the Germans launched their surprise attacks on the Western Front. He led his men well in some bitter and important fighting, especially near Amiens. His standing suddenly changed in May when Birdwood was promoted to command the Fifth Army. Birdwood took with him General Brudenell White, the Australian favoured to take his place, and also recommended Monash for the job of corps commander. Bean and journalist Keith Murdoch tried to prevent Monash’ s appointment, but failed. Perhaps it was significant that Field Marshal Haig had earlier told Monash
10 Great Scot Number 153 – April 2018