The moment that defined Monash
ABSORBING the lessons of his Gallipoli experience was “the making” of John Monash as Australia’s greatest military leader, General Peter Cosgrove said at the Sydney Jewish Museum on Monday night.
ABSORBING the lessons of his Gallipoli experience was “the making” of John Monash as Australia’s greatest military leader, General Peter Cosgrove said at the Sydney Jewish Museum on Monday night.
The former head of the Australian Armed Forces made the remarks during the inaugural Monash Oration, held jointly by the museum and John Monash Foundation, on the theme “Are leaders born or do they develop to meet the need?”.
In outlining Monash’s contributions to the army and Australian society, Cosgrove argued that the son of Jewish-German immigrants “fashioned his leadership on his experiences and forged it to its pre-eminent level through the fire and brimstone of battle”.
He pointed to the Gallipoli campaign as a defining moment.
“For Monash, like the majority of Anzacs at Gallipoli, it was a baptism of fire,” he said.
A defining moment, Cosgrove said, was the famous Battle of Lone Pine.
“Monash’s brigade became lost and bogged down in the terrible gullies and razorback ridges,” he said.
“Monash personally was exhausted by the long and arduous blundering around, attempting to find a way to the top. He wasn’t particularly fit at the time and the whole experience, personally and professionally, cast him very low.
“But as low as he felt, he profoundly absorbed the lessons of this experience.”
The 65-year-old said that brilliance in conceptualising and planning, meticulousness and a single-mindedness in achieving his goals were all defining characteristics of Monash’s leadership.
“But the answer I vastly prefer is that Monash was deeply concerned and committed to the welfare and safety, indeed and starkly, to the survival of the men under his command,” he said.
“Monash cared and why did he care? Because he was responsible.”
Cosgrove also credited Monash with creating an “Australian style” of leadership, built around common-sense and practical solutions, sustained and consistent sensible direction and a willingness to endure hardship and trials with his soldiers.
“Monash built these beliefs into the leadership model he created for himself, and in doing so created a blueprint for all those Australian military leaders who came after him,” he said.
The General noted that Monash’s subsequent posting in France helped him hone his command skills, earning a reputation as a successful but cautious commander who prepared his men thoroughly, sought ideas from his subordinates, maintained an attention to detail, communicated clearly and questioned his commanders.
He said the thousands of men under Monash’s command knew they had “a winner”.
“His greatest triumph came at the Battle of Hamel in July 1918 when his ideas and tactics were vindicated, when the merciless training and the coordinated support secured a significant allied victory,” he said.
Monash continued to display leadership long after the war, he added.
“He brought great distinction to himself, to his country, to the Australian army and to his Jewish faith,” he said.
GARETH NARUNSKY
General Peter Cosgrove delivers the Monash Oration.
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