Usually
a commander on the battlefield has been with troops through training, getting
ready for battle and the actual fight itself. Sometimes a change is needed
while the soldiers are in the trenches. The most famous cases of this is
General Ulysses S. Grant taking control of the Union Army during the Civil War
after five previous generals had failed to take the chances to win the war, and
Field Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery taking control of the British 8th Army in
North Africa to defeat Rommel’s Afrika Korps in WW2. In both cases, moral was
sagging and the person who took over was well experienced and beloved
(Montgomery was loved by the British and loathed by the Americans) and
therefore were able to get the best out of their armies and win the battle. A
third example of this is Australian General John Monash during the First World
War.
John
Monash didn’t come from your typical military family. His parents were Jewish
immigrants coming from Poland. They spoke German (probably Yiddish) and that
gave rise to critics of Monash that he was a German spy. The irony was that his
parent’s old home in Poland was near where German General Erich Ludendorff was
born. As fate would have it, Monash and Ludendorff would soon be commanding
armies on opposite sides during the Battle of Amiens.
Monash
was born in 1865 in Melbourne and he attended the University of Melbourne with
graduate degrees in civil engineering, law and in 1921 a doctorate in
Engineering. While in college, he joined the militia and slowly rose in rank
and he became a full colonel in 1913 commanding the 13th Infantry Brigade. The
military was only a side job that he took on. He was mainly a civil engineer
and was a partner in a contracting business that was dissolved in 1905. For a
few years, he deeply in debt but soon formed his own company and by 1912 he was
a very rich and networked executive.
World
War I broke out in 1914 and because England was involved, Australia, a British
colony, joined the war. Monash, who joined the army as a regular officer,
was given command of the 4th Infantry Brigade, which was stationed in Egypt
fighting the Ottoman Imperial Army. During the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915 his
brigade, fighting with New Zealanders, entrenched themselves in a valley that
became known as Monash Valley. Even though they were decisively defeated,
Monash made a name for himself as a great strategist, decision maker,
organizational leader and a beloved commander.
Later
that year he was promoted to brigadier general. Even though the army had to
evacuate the area, under Monash they were able to do so with only minor loss to
men and the vital equipment that was need to mount another offensive quickly.
They also retreated without alerting the enemy, so when a few hours later the
Turks opened up a furious bombardment they attacked empty trenches.
He
was soon recalled to England to take command of the newly formed 3rd Australian
Division. He trained it from the start and led them through many battles in
France. Even though the division suffered heavy casualties his enthusiasm did
not go unnoticed by the high command and he was promoted to lieutenant general
(three stars). He was given command of the Australian Corps heading in to the
pivotal and final year of the war.
Under
Monash, the Australians recaptured the town of Villers-Bretonneux in a battle that he called the
turning the point of the war. The Battle of Hamel took place on July 4, 1918,
with the Australian Corps coming under the overall command of the British 4th
Army under General Sir Henry Rawlinson. The army won the battle and because of
the brilliance displayed by Monash he was praised by Rawlinson and sometimes
was given command of servicemen from other countries. During the subsequent
battles he led divisions coming from Canada, England, the U.S. as well as
Australians.
On
August 8, 1918 the Battle of Amiens took place. It was one of the first major battles
in history to see tanks used on a large scale. The Allied advance was led by
the Australians under Monash and his brilliant strategy for attack. The key to
the attack was armor and surprise and that is what led the Allies to victory
and the beginning of the Hundred Days Offensive that led to the end of the war.
The German General Erich Ludendorff called it “the black day of the German
Army.”
Four
days later, King George V knighted Monash on the battlefield, the first time a
commander had been bestowed such an honor in over two centuries. He commanded
over 200,000 troops past the Hindenburg Line and into Germany and on October 5
the Germans asked for an armistice.
Monash
returned to Australia a national hero. He took on several prominent civilian
positions including the president of the Zionist Federation of Australia and
New Zealand. He died in 1931 and there were about 250,000 people who attended
his funeral. He was honored by having a suburb in Australia named Monash and
being depicted on the $100 bill. Kfar Monash in Israel is also named after the
great hero who is often called the Australian George Washington.
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