Chapter 72 – John

Details from Charles Bean’s Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18 , vol II:

p. 854 – Map 28 shows the terrain north of the Anzac sector.

p. 458 – A three-dimensional shows the terrain north of the Anzac sector.

pp. 366-367 – Sickness during the summer cost as many men in a fortnight as would be expected to be lost in a general assault. By late July 1915, troop losses at Anzac due to sickness were typically 150-230 men per day.

p. 448 – The 4th Brigade was supposedly “resting” in July, but actually working to dig terraces in Reserve Gully to accommodate planned reinforcements.

p. 463 – AWM photograph A02011 shows Australian fatigue parties forming ledges or terraces to accommodate the newly arriving troops just prior to the great August offensive.

p. 469 – Commander-in-Chief, General Hamilton was secretive about the attack plans. On July 22 he had not General Stopford of the plan, and expressed concern that too much information had been given to Divisional generals.

Roland Perry describes the lead up to the August offensive in his biography Monash: The Outsider Who Won a War (p. 207-212).  Some details include:

207-208 – Monash celebrated his 50th birthday on 27 June 1915. Many officers came to wish him happy returns, and he received gifts of cigars, French champagne and Greek retsina. He also received a birthday cake from Lady Godley.

209-210 – Godley told monash to “sharpen his bushwalking and compass skills” and spoke of a “left hook”. Monash took two staff on a secret trek north, but they were unable to get far.

Next day, Monash cruised up the coast with senior officers and maps, but they could not always agree on what height was what. Monash expected the final maps to be explicit and clear. Their vessel was fired upon by the Turks

210-211 – During July, four doctors assessed every man in the 4th Brigade. One reckoned the men were in condition to march for half a day, if given adequate water, food and rest. The other three doctors were adamant that the men were not fit to shovel trenches or anything else.

14-15 – Monash met Ned Kelly as a child in 1878. He claimed to have been paid one shilling to mind the bushranger’s horse while he sold other stolen horses, and John Monash’s father Louis claimed to have negotiated a good cash deal for one.

Australian War Memorial photo A02011shows Australian fatigue parties forming ledges or terraces to accommodate the newly arriving troops just prior to the great August offensive.

John Monash’s letters to his wife Victoria are preserved in War Letters of General Monash . Some details include:

22 June – Monash is the only brigadier who has not been disabled in some way. He eats sparingly and drinks only boiled water. His home is a hole in the side of the hill, about 6 feet by 7 feet and 4 feet deep, with sides of sandbags and a roof of three waterproof sheets lashed together. Biscuit boxes serve as furniture.

18 July – Monash opens with “There runs through all your letters a sad strain of anxiety and sorrow, and this is only natural, but you must try to overcome that feeling. As for myself, I have got over the worrying long ago…”. He writes of his reconnaissance voyage on a torpedo-boat destroyer a “couple of days ago.” He was impressed by the modern vessel, describing is as a “perfect greyhound”, and being able to be “handled by one man as easily as a motor car”. In this letter, Monash also states that he received four giant guns on this day.

21 July – Monash notes that he received Victoria’s cablegram of 10 July which read “Congratulations on promotion to brigadier-general well love”, and that this was agreat surprise to him.

24 July – Monash wrote again, stating that Lieutenant-General Birdwood came to congratulate him personally on his promotion [to Brigadier-General].

Peter Pederson, in Monash as a Military Commander , describes how during July 1915, while stationed in Reserve Gully, Monash struggled and complained about the loss of men to minor injuries and sickness who did not return to duty (pp. 90-91).