Sir John Monash

Real

Life

By William Knight He was born in Melbourne on the 27th of June 1865. He was the eldest of 3 and the only boy. His parents were Louis and Betha Monash. His background was German. From a young age the teachers recognised his intelligence. He grew up to become a civil engineer and a soldier. He studied at Melbourne University. WAR He is a hero because of his war efforts. Anyone who voluntarily goes to war is a hero as they have a high chance of dying. Meaning they would die for the safety and freedom of others. This shows that they are extremely selfless. In 1914 he was in command of the AIFs 4th brigade in Egypt then sent to Gallipoli on ANZAC day (1915). Yet it was in 1918 when John Monash made his mark. In May 1918 he was appointed Corps Commander of the Australian Forces. He is a hero because of his extremely well thought out strategies to defeat the Germans. Monash developed a strategy where the days before battle, they would drop smoke and gas bombs at the same time. Then on the day of battle, the Allies would only drop smoke bombs. The Germans would assume there were also gas bombs and put on their gas masks. This made the Germans communication and vision difficult. This led the Allies to victory. Another one of his strategies was that the troops would run behind the tanks onto the battlefield. The tanks would provide protection for the soldiers, therefore, reducing Allied casualties. He was also a hero when he returned to Australia. In 1920 he was appointed manager of Victoria’s State Electricity Commission. He also held a range of high levelled positions and his opinions were widely sought. He had a university named after him (Monash university). He died in Melbourne on the 8th of October 1931 of heart disease. He was given a state funeral attended by about 250 000 mourners. In summary he is a hero because he faced a number of obstacles in his personal and military life and was able to overcome them. If he wasn’t in the war chances are that the Allies would have lost. His work after the war benefited Australia and returned servicemen.