Calls for Monash to be posthumously promoted
FEDERAL Liberal MP Josh Frydenberg has backed calls by former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer to posthumously promote Sir John Monash to the rank of field marshal.
FEDERAL Liberal MP Josh Frydenberg has backed calls by former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer to posthumously promote Sir John Monash to the rank of field marshal.
Frydenberg, who described Monash as “one of the greatest Australians” in an opinion piece in The Australian last week, told The AJN the time was right for such an honour to be bestowed.
“Former deputy prime minister and Vietnam veteran Tim Fischer has done us all a great service with his suggestion that Monash be posthumously promoted to field marshal,” Frydenberg said.
“Such a historic move coinciding with the centenary of Anzac [in 2014] would not only elevate Monash to Australia’s military pantheon but appropriately recognise his pivotal role in the Allied victory during World War I. With the centenary of Anzac soon upon us, this would be a fitting tribute to a great man and to all the men and women of the AIF [Australian Imperial Force] who served with such bravery and distinction.”
Widely regarded as Australia’s greatest military leader, Monash commanded the Australian armed forces during World War I. After bloody campaigns in Gallipoli, he oversaw an allied offensive at Amiens in France, which resulted in a swift and decisive victory. It was the opening salvo of the Hundred Days Offensive, which ultimately ended the war and was the first in a string of tactically brilliant victories for Monash.
Fischer – who was leader of the National Party between 1990 and 1999, and a second lieutenant in the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment – first called for Monash to be posthumously promoted in 2008.
“I remain strongly in support [of a posthumous promotion for Monash] and it should happen in the year of the centenary of Gallipoli by a private member’s bill for the federal Parliament,” Fischer told The AJN.
“Sir John Monash deserved the rank of field marshal then and he deserves it now, including as a salute to all members of the AIF,” he said.
Fischer thanked Frydenberg for his public support, adding that while there was no precedent for a posthumous promotion in Australia, country’s such as England and the US had bestowed deceased military greats with such honors in the past.
Fischer also noted that Monash was discriminated against by his British counterparts because he was colonial and Jewish, and said now was the time to “correct” the wrongs of the past.
President of the Federation of Australian Jewish Ex-Service Associations and Lieutenant Colonel (ret) Brian Nebenzahl said any promotion would be “long overdue”.
“Monash was an outstanding citizen-soldier. The fact that he was a colonial, the fact that he was a citizen-soldier, the fact that he was Jewish irked many in the British military hierarchy.
“His promotion is long overdue and should happen.”
ADAM KAMIEN
Sir John Monash
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