Chapter 23 – John

Arthur Jose describes the second Australian convoy in Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18 , vol IX, chapter XIII. This convoy assembled at Albany on 28 December 1914, and departed King George Sound on 31 December 1914 under the Principal Naval Transport Officer, Commander Brewis on Ulysses (p.413). Jose states that “No escort of warships was required, but the Berrima , which during the occupation of New Britain had been armed and temporarily added to the Australian navy, headed the convoy with the submarine AE 2 in tow.” The formation of the 17 ships and submarine AE2 is shown on p. 414.

Peter Pederson, in Monash as a Military Commander , states that Monash saw war and an “engineering problem” (p. 12).

Details from Voyage to Gallipoli, by Peter Plowman include:

p.228 - The merchant Berrima wore small deck-mounted guns, having been retro-fitted at Cockatoo Dockyard in Sydney (towed AE2). Also ref. p. 37.

p. 234-5 – Monash in command of second convoy – embarked with HQ staff on Ulysses on 22 December at Melbourne.

p. 236 – Ulysses was the last Australian ship to arrive at King George Sound, dropped anchor soon after daylight 28 December. 3 NZ transport ships arrived same day. Three days were  spent on final sorting, wrong stores and personnel caused difficulties. Communications between ships was near impossible.

p. 237 – Tug masters refused to guide ships to buoys after dark and went on strike. 200 cases of food poisoning occurred on Ulysses .

p. 238 – 31 December, 8am – the 2nd convoy began to depart, Ulysses first. The convoy formed into three lines.

p. 239 – Berrima led way, Ulysses came next (centre column) order shown. The convoy was made up of 17 ships – 6 in centre, 6 in left, 5 in right, as well as the submarine. Ship designations used were A29-42 and NZ13-15. The first death at sea for this convoy occurred on 1 January 1915. The fleet stopped for a burial at sea, the sky was a glorious blue.

p. 240 – Ulysses carried 13th and 14th Infantry Battalions of the Australian Imperial Force.

p. 288 – Ulysses had triple expansion steam engines, and twin propellers.

John Monash’s letters to his wife Victoria are preserved in War Letters of General Monash (full version 1935, or re-published by Black Inc, 2015). Dates shown are dates of letters, so are not exactly dates of events. Some details include:

24 December – Received a beautiful send off from Melbourne.

25 December – Four Christmas services were  held on his ship. Monash was reluctant to stop the convoy, he calculated that it cost 8 pounds per minute, excluding pay of 13,000 men. The ships left Albany in 1 column, over 20 miles long, rear out of site. The convoy formed up into 2 columns at Leeuwin, then to 3 columns. At this time the convoy was 2 miles wide and 6 miles long – good for visual signalling. Standing on bridge, 60 ft above water, he could see the whole fleet – responsive as to speed, formation, course. “I feel it is something to have lived for, to have been entrusted by one’s country with so magnificent a responsibility.” Monash let the men wear what they liked in warm conditions when not on duty.

“Our first death at sea occurred today, a young soldier from Brisbane died of typhoid on the Borda at eight o’clock this morning. The funeral, which took place at eleven, was most impressive. At five to eleven the whole fleet was brought to ‘attention’ by signal from the flagship, all troops on deck and standing to attention. At eleven by another signal all engines were stopped, and the burial proceeded from the Borda ; her ship’s bell tolling could be distinctly heard, although she was three miles away. But [by] five past eleven the service was over, and a volley of rifles told us that the burial had taken place. Then the last signal, ‘Full speed ahead’, and the fleet resumed its majestic march across the ocean.”

Roland Perry describes John Monash’s entry into the war in Monash: The Outsider Who Won a War .  Some details referenced include:

p. 71 – Monash recognised that machines would play an important part in war, not just numbers of men any more, but planning and coordination between artillery and infantry.

p. 77 – Monash believed that order made for the perfect fighting machine, disorder was the enemy.

p. 80 – Monash read about French gardener who put grid of small-diameter iron bars in mortar to make flower pots stronger. The Frenchman patented idea.

p. 81 – Monash understood how the iron took tensile strain, mortar or concrete took compressive strain. A German Engineer took licences to use Monier method to make small arched bridges. In the 1890’s, this method of reinforced concrete was untried in England or Australia.

p. 83 – Monash built the Anderson Street Bridge over the Yarra River in Melbourne, and this was the first use of reinforced concrete for a substantial structure in Australia.

p. 92-93 – The Anderson Street Bridge passed a 15 ton steam roller test  (photo included between p. 290 and p. 291).

p. 112 – In 1905, Monash formed the “Reinforced Concrete and Monier Pipe Construction Company.”

p. 115 – By 1906, business was finally booming for Monash.

p. 120 – Monash saw Germany and Japan as natural threats to Australia.

p. 122 –Monash thought of the logistics of war as like an engineering bridge project.

p. 124 – Monash had pre-war training in artillery, and understood its importance to protect men. Monash had a great appreciation of maps.

p. 125 – Napoleon was a hero for Monash.

p. 129 – Monash researched aeroplanes, how they might affect military campaigns.

p. 133 – Monash drank 1-2 glasses of Dewers Whiskey each night.

p. 134 – Monash had his officers read “Port Arthur: The Siege and Capitulation” by Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett (1906).

p. 138 – Monash was appointed the rank of full colonel in the Australian militia prior to the war

p. 147-8 – Monash believed German war victory would impact on Australia, and that German empire would want dominions. He went to war at 49 yrs old as he believed it was in Australia’s best interests. “…to help the Empire crush a peril which may mean the end of Australia as a free country.”

p. 150 – On 15 September 1914, Monash was appointed 4th Brigade Commander.

p. 151-2 – Monash faced racist opposition, as he was a Jew, and of German heritage

p. 155 – Monash knew that the destination of his convoy was Egypt, but this was to be kept secret. He expected war to last six months.

The following extracts are taken from Port Arthur: The Siege and Capitulation by Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett (Russo-Japanese war of 1904, book published 1906):

p. vi-vii (Preface) – “…The only mystery involved is the motive for the decision which caused the Japanese to make the immense sacrifice of life which was bound to result from frontal attacks on impregnable positions…As we have probably witnessed old-fashioned assaults and close-order formations for the last time, it has been one of my chief objects to place on record the obsolete method of fighting which characterised the siege.”

p. 470-471 (Conclusion) – “…The struggle was rendered intensely interesting by the fact that the Japanese endeavoured to combine modern weapons and methods of destruction with obsolete formations in attack. The result was unprecedented carnage; and we have probably witnessed these old-fashioned assaults on forts for the last time. It is true that before the outbreak of the war critics had declared such methods impossible, but then all critics reckoned without the Japanese. After the lesson of Port Arthur the Japanese are never likely to attempt such assaults again. No other nation will repeat the experiment, because men could never be relied on to advance under such conditions…”

This war featured “…horrors which modern science has developed for the destruction of man: hand grenades, torpedoes, electric wires, search lights, and above all mines, which in a few seconds destroyed entire works and hundreds of men.”

The following details are taken from the biography John Monash by Alan Smithers:

p. 17 – Monash met Ned Kelly as a child, and the outlaw gave Monash some advice.

p. 18 – Monash was highly accomplished pianist who occasional performed in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.