By Harold J Karpin
MELBOURNE — General Sir JohnMonash, born of migrant parents is said to have become Australia’s greatest son. General Sir John Monash died on the 8th October 1931. He was held in such high regard that his funeral saw over 300,000 people turn out to witness the procession. It is said that fathers hoisted their young onto their shoulders and told them to remember the
day they saw “the great man pass by.”
A much smaller, but a substantial number, gathered (On Sunday 9th October, 2011) 80 years later to pay their respects at a Commemorative Tribute at the graveside of Sir John at
Brighton Cemetery, Melbourne. The service was hosted by the Victorian Association Ex & Servicemen & Women Australia Inc (VAJEX) together with The Returned & Services League of Australia (Victoria Branch) Inc, The Spirit of Australia Foundation and The General Sir John Monash Foundation.
The service began with a welcome to the many high ranking military persons, politicians, members and descendants of the Monash family and other persons of note. Now I do not in any way mean to down play or demean the addresses made by MAJGEN David McLachlen AO , State President of R& SL, MAJGEN Jeffrey V Rosenfeld AM CStJ, Patron VAJEX or MAJGEN Jim Barry AM MBE RFD ED, Deputy Chair The Spirit of Australia Foundation, They were inspiring and informative in their own way. Each spoke of the history of Sir John and drew attention to his many
attributes……His outstanding military prowess, which enabled him to develop new winning strategies of warfare.
Field Marshal Montgomery said of him that ‘he had the greatest capacity for command in modern war of all who held command.’ This being so, to me his most interesting attribute was
caring for ‘his men’. A caring, many attribute to the fact that, as unbelievable as it is, in military parlance, ‘he came up through the ranks’
However, it was the graveside address by Monash’s great grandson Mr Michael Bennett that told of a different side to Sir John. To most of us the image we hold of the General is that of a very
dour and serious military man, a man absolutely devoted to the seriousness war…an image more in keeping with the British High Command at that time. However, how wrong we are!
Michael spoke of his great grand father being awake at dawn having planned the night before each minute of each coming hour with the same meticulous care as if it were his battlefield. This we would expect of the general. But would we accept that he had a library of over 7000 books from which each night he would gather the family around the fireside and read aloud to them? Would
our image allow us to accept that as a youth his mother taught him the piano,on which he became so accomplished that critics spoke of him as a ‘prodigy’? Beyond that, he was a great lover of
the opera. So much so that he would take his own score so that he could follow each note. Or can we imagine him out in his garden pruning his roses?
He was also a lover of the Arts, sketching, collecting of paying visits to galleries. Such was his ability, that whilst awaiting for a battle to begin, in order to distract his mind he
would sketch some of ‘his men’. Of all things, can we imagine Sir John using carpentry skills, learned from who knows where, to build for his granddaughter a five-foot high dolls house,
complete with electricity and bathroom fittings?
Whilst on the subject of electricity Monash is said to be the man who brought electric power to the remotest parts of Victoria.
Possibly, the hardest thing to accept is that the great General wrote of war, ‘The horror, the ghastly inefficiency, the unspeakable cruelty and misery (of war) have always appalled me. ”
Monash, Scholar, Engineer, Lawyer, Soldier, Role model and nation Builder
The service included the dedication of a sign by Chaplain Rabbi Dovid Gutnick and a plaque by Ralphe Genende, the Ode spoken by MAJGEN David McLachlan The Last post by Bugler LCPL Lance Nihill and concluded with Kaddish recited by Ben Hirsh, VAJEX Aust Inc President.