John Monash

Sir John Monash

Sir John Monash GCMG , KCB , VD (born June 27, 1865 in Melbourne , † October 8, 1931 ibid) was an Australian engineer and officer , most recently a general .

Life

Monash was born into a German-Polish immigrant family of Jewish faith. John's grandfather Baer-Loebel Monasch was a learned publisher and printer. His uncle Heinrich Graetz was an important historian of the Jewish people. His father Louis (1831-1894) emigrated to Melbourne in 1854, thrived as a merchant, was naturalized in 1856 and was secretary of the German Association. Louis returned to Europe in 1863, married Bertha (née Manasse from Dramburg) in Stettin and returned with her to Melbourne the following year. John grew up in poor conditions in the outback , was educated at Scotch College and then studied engineering and law at the University of Melbourne . He retained a lifelong affection for Scotch College. He matriculated there at the age of 14 and was second best in math and logistics in 6th grade (1880), after James W. McCay , his lifelong friend and military rival. In addition, he soon made a career in the army: he was inducted into the artillery as a lieutenant in 1887 and promoted to captain in 1895 . He studied at the University of Melbourne, from where he graduated in 1893 as a Master of Engineering and of Arts and in 1895 as a Bachelor of Laws. Monash then became a successful civil engineer in civil life, using his talents to build roads, bridges, and railways. After a long time without a rank he was promoted to major under Colonel JW McCay in March 1908 . Monash's interest in military theory emerged particularly in 1912 when he won the gold medal for his essay "Lessons from the Campaign in the Wilderness 1864" for a study competition, from which the Australian Army derived tactical, administrative and organizational lessons for the defense of Australia could. On June 21, 1913, he was promoted to colonel and given command of the 13th Brigade.

By the outbreak of World War I he reached the rank of Colonel and was commander of the 4th Brigade of the Australian Imperial Force in Egypt . With this he took part in the Battle of Gallipoli from the beginning until the evacuation of the Allied forces . On 13 July 1916 he was appointed Major General conveyed and received command of the on the Western Front standing 3rd Division of the AIF. With this he was used from November 1916 as part of the II Anzac Corps (General Alexander J. Godley ) in the Armentières area. In the summer and autumn of 1917 he took part in the Battle of Messines and the Third Battle of Flanders .

On May 31, 1918, Monash was promoted to lieutenant general and was given command of the Australian corps, which had now been formed. He led this successfully on July 4, 1918 at the Battle of Hamel , where he decisively developed warfare by using infantry, machine guns, artillery, air force and tanks in a coordinated manner. The aim was to drive the Germans who had advanced far from the important railway junction Amiens back. There was no preparatory artillery bombardment, instead the Australian guns fired at German artillery positions and bunkers previously identified by aerial photography and "sound location". In order to drown out the engine noise of the advancing tanks, planes flew low over the front. The attack began around 3 a.m. with a fire roller , which also used smoke grenades. In their protection, the tanks rolled forward and made breaches in the opposing barbed wire, followed closely by the infantry. Strongly fortified points were taken under fire by the tanks, which were directed by the infantrymen using rifle grenades . Planes circled over the battlefield to take out enemy anti-tank positions and a second wave of tanks waited behind the front line, some of which were supposed to bring supplies forward to keep the offensive going. The attack was an overwhelming success: within a few hours, the Australians were able to accomplish all of their goals and take thousands of prisoners with minimal casualties themselves. The battle is therefore considered to be the first "modern battle" (-> see Combat of the Combined Arms ), but is u. a. probably largely forgotten due to their low losses. Monash's tactics were the model for the later British doctrine and ensured that the Australian Prime Minister did not remove him from his command despite previous pressure.

Monash later served on the Hundred Days Offensive .

After the war, Monash directed the repatriation of Australian troops. In 1920 he became General Manager of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria. In addition, he was from 1923 Vice Chancellor of the University of Melbourne. In 1929 he and Harry Chauvel , the commander of the Desert Mounted Corps in World War I, became the first Australians to be promoted to the rank of general. Up until then, only British-born William Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood , who was made an honorary field marshal of the Australian Army in 1925 , had a higher rank .

Monash died of heart disease in 1931 at the age of 66. An estimated 250,000 people attended his state funeral in Melbourne.

Honors

Equestrian statue in Monash's honor in Melbourne

In honor of Monash, an equestrian statue was erected near the Shrine of Remembrance . Among other things, Monash University in Melbourne was named after him. Monash is also featured on the Australian $ 100 bill .

literature

• Tim Fischer: Maestro John Monash: Australia's Greatest Citizen General. Monash University Publishing, 2014, ISBN 978-1-922235-59-6 .
• Roland Perry: Monash: The Outsider who Won a War. Random House Australia, 2007. ISBN 1-74166-847-6 .
• Geoffrey Serle: John Monash. A biography. Melbourne University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-522-85016-2 .

Web links

Commons : John Monash  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• John Monash in the National Archive of Australia .
• Biography in the Australian Dictionary of Biography .
• Biography of the Australian War Memorial .