ABOVE: MONASH WROTE THIS INSPIRING LETTER TO MR LITTLEJOHN, PRINCIPAL OF SCOTCH COLLEGE, IN JUNE 1918. IT APPEARED IN THE 1918 SCOTCH COLLEGIAN. ABOVE RIGHT: PORTRAIT OF LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR JOHN MONASH IN 1919. HIS ARMBAND DENOTES CORPS HEADQUARTERS, THE BLUE STRIPES UNDER IT REFLECT FIVE YEARS’ SERVICE.
that he wanted him as a corps commander. On 1 June 1918 Monash took over the Australian Corps and was promoted to Lieutenant-General. He was the right man for the job of leading the Australians in the climax of the war, for he was far more familiar than Birdwood of the practical necessities of modern war.
Monash’ s planning of the battle of Hamel on 4 July 1918 was one of his great achievements. His plans were detailed and communicated to all ranks. The operation was completed in just 93 minutes and prompted comments from historians such as‘ the perfect battle’, and‘ a war-winning combination had been found: a corps commander of genius, the Australian infantry, the Tank Corps, the Royal Artillery and the RAF’.
Monash also won great praise for the direction of the Australians at Amiens on 8 August, when they and the Canadians achieved a breakthrough that the German general Erich Ludendorff described as‘ the black day of the German army’. Three days later at Villers-Bretonneux, in a great gathering of senior allied generals and politicians,
King George V invested Monash with his knighthood.
In the great series of Allied victories that followed 8 August, the Australian Corps continued to play an important role. Monash was proud of the achievements of his men, and a British newspaper article of the time described him thus:‘ General Monash, clear-headed, quick in speech and in action, is first of all a great Australian. If, in his view, his country has any faults, he forgets them in his enthusiasm for its virtues. He made one feel that there is no practicable military feat which Australian soldiers cannot achieve.’
Modern Australian military historians have tended to downplay Monash’ s significance in 1918, emphasising for example that he was a subordinate to British commanders who made the main decisions, that French forces under Foch were fundamentally important to the 1918 offensives and that Hamel was a small-scale battle, albeit one that was influential on later British offensives. These historians also mention that Monash was lucky to take over the superb Australian fighting force when he did, and when the Germans had expended their best troops in the March offensives.
Nevertheless, they also acknowledge that Monash was an exceptional general.‘ Monash made his own luck’, says Peter Pedersen.‘ Monash’ s technical mastery of all arms and tactics,’ he continues,‘ particularly surprise and deception, was unsurpassed among his contemporaries, and he attached equal weight to logistics.’ Later in 1918 Monash was made Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George( GCMG). In the course of the war he was mentioned in despatches five times and won French, Belgian and American honours. In the words of the Oxford Companion to Military History, Monash has a secure reputation as‘ Australia’ s greatest field commander’.
DR MARK JOHNSTON – HEAD OF HISTORY
More details about all Scotch Collegians killed in World War I can be found on the Scotch website under‘ WWI Commemorative Website’ on the home page.
www. scotch. vic. edu. au Great Scot 11