John Monash

Who was John Monash?

General Sir John Monash, GCMG, KCB, VD was a civil engineer who became the Australian military commander in the First World War. He commanded the 13th Infantry Brigade before the War and then, shortly after the outbreak of the war, became commander of the 4th Brigade in Egypt, with whom he took part in the Gallipoli campaign. In July 1916 he took charge of the new Australian 3rd Division in north-west France and in May 1918 he was made commander of the Australian Corps, at the time the largest individual corps on the Western Front. On 8 August 1918 the successful allied attack at the Battle of Amiens, which led to the earlier than expected end to the war, was planned by Monash and spearheaded by the Australian and Canadian Corps under Monash and Arthur Currie.