Aust History - General Sir John Monash

General Sir John Monash

Thought I'd share a bit of Australian History with those curious. Some of this is going from memory (so I hope everything is accurate), but he is an interesting individual for the sheer breadth of his achievements. I've grouped his achievements by category.

Origin - born in Melbourne 27 June 1865 to a immigrant Polish Jew who had his Germanic name changed from Monasch to Monash, to allow his son to fit in better with his new country.

Died Oct 1931, whereupon his viewing/funeral attracted 300,000 Australians (in the City of Melbourne, which then had a population of around 1,000,000)

Academic :
-Dux of his school (on second attempt), Scotch College, Victoria
-3 University degrees : Law, Arts, and Engineering
-Qualified Municipal Surveyor

Legal :
-Expert engineering witness for many legal matters (very high success rate), Travelling Australia in this capacity
-Qualified ?'lawyer', prosecuted some matters (very high success rate)

Military
-Joined Militia in 1884, receiving his commission in 1887, and rising eventually to rank of Colonel in 1913
-Joined WW1
-Took part in Gallipoli
-Implemented a Memorial Day for the troops regarding their landing at Gallipoli, now known in Australia as ANZAC day
-1918 rose to be Australia's Commander in Chief
-Became the First man knighted on the field of Battle in over 200 years
-Became the first foreigner to ever command American troops
-Arguably the man who broke the stalemate that existed at the Western Front in 1918
-Co-ordinated the repatriation of 200,000+ Australians after the war (remember, they all had to be shipped, and so did all the other intercontinental forces - America, Canada etc)


Cultural
-Did not believe Australia should fight the Boer War (or any ?'Colonial War'), believing Australia should follow it's own destiny. However, he went to WW1 seeing it as the ultimate test of a true commander
-Instituted ANZAC day - Australia's war veterans day
-Offered the dictatorship of Australia by a group of rebels during The Great Depression - he turned them down
-Wrote 65,000 letters during his lifetime (one of the reasons there is so much detail about his life)
-Was the Patriarch of his family
-Social organizer for his various places of employment, and his later his own company

Civil
-His first job was as a labourer on a bridge building project. By the end of it he was one of the 4 head engineers
-Owned his own Engineering company
-Owned patents to Reinforced Concrete for Vic & SA
After WW1
-Became Victoria's Commisioner for Electricity (Joining Vics many fragmented Electricity Commisions into a single entity), and Bringing a unified power grid to Victoria
-I think he was a dean of The University of Melbourne at one stage too (don't quote me on that one)

Enemies :

Keith Murdoch (father of Rupert Murdoch)
- crime : being born German/Jewish (Polish being considered ?'German' at the time)
Charles Bean, Australia's Official War Correspondent/Historian
-crime : being born German/Jewish
Billy Hughes, Prime Minister of Australia
-crime : telling Hughes (at the urging of Murdoch and Bean) if Hughes removed him from Command, he would not go, and after WW1, walking in to an Auditorium reception behind Hughes after the ending of WW1. No one noticed Hughes enter. Monash, entering behind Hughes, received a standing and sustained ovation.
Governor General of Australia (can't remember his name)
-crime : having greater Titles (knighthoods etc) than the G-G

Notes : At one stage was Studying for degrees, working in the Militia, running his own business, Travelling Australia as an expert engineering witness, writing his letters, keeping a social life, and organizing social events.

Point of Interest : As Commissioner of Victoria's Electricity body, he asked the Govt for 1,00,000 Pounds, which was turned down by the Govt. Monash walked into a meeting of Cabinet Ministers, and in the words of one Minister "The room instinctively rose as one', such was his presence. Monash looked at the Premier, and said "You've turned down my proposal, haven't you." The Premier apologized and said they had. Monash replied "That can only be because you've utterly failed to understand the proposal." He walked out half an hour later with the proposal signed off (he had brought the paperwork to be signed with him).