Trivia: Monash was the last person to be knighted on the battlefield by a British monarch.

Something a lot of People don't know about Monash and his planning ability, is that he drilled down to every aspect including the supply of hot meals, laundry services and medical support as part of his battle plan. He was truly the first modern thinking Commander of combined services. His plan for the Battle of Hamel was for 90 minutes, the battle was over in 93 minutes.

If looking at Aussie military history, Monash is a very good starting point. He continues to be held in high regard here , with a university, suburbs and roads named after him, and his picture featuring on Australian currency.

Monash was one of the very few generals to come through WW I with an enhanced reputation.

Quite remarkable the American troops who fought with the seasoned Australian troops had only been in France for 4 or 5 weeks and performed extremely well. This was the first and last time American troops fought under foreign command. Pershing the US commander tried to put a stop to the idea when he heard of the plan, withdrawing 1000 of the 2000 American troops. Monash pulled a bit of a swifty on the eve of the battle to retain 1000 of the Americans. The French press and people thought the world of the Australian's ability to kill germans who were possibly the finest troops the allies had and the American troops were in a bit of awe of the accomplishments they had achieved. The Australians near the end of 4 years of fighting played the situation down suggesting that any sense of glory will dissolve very quickly by the horrific reality of action on the battlefield. With limited training with the Australians and 1000 fewer men than Monash considered necessary and a two-week softening with artillery including gas and smoke shells, planes were also used to harass the German line and to also create noise around the designated battle start time. The scene was set for what was and is considered the first perfect battle although small in scale as stated it combined all elements available including using tanks to supply ammo, pickets, wire and water onto the battlefield this freed hundreds of men from the exhausting and very dangerous job, planes were also used to drop ammo. Secrecy was paramount so planes were used as usual to cover the noise of the tanks as they moved to the start line in the darkness. A creeping barrage was used to provide as much cover as possible to allow the troops to get themselves on top of the German front line almost intact. As they walked under cover of the barrage a few American troops got themselves excited and ran ahead straight into the creeping barrage, this was nothing to be ashamed of as there wouldn't be an army on the western front that didn't do the same at some point in the development arc. Monash had insisted that the Americans were not dispersed among the Australians and were kept in their respective units to fight as they were. When the troops arrived at the German front line the Germans all in their gas masks were confronted by the Australians and Americans not wearing gas masks as only smoke, and no gas was used for the battle, simple but clever enough. Monash cited a 90-minute battle that took 93 minutes. the real objective was the high ground on the other side of Hammel which was held, repelling German counter-attacks. through the day and next night. Monash went from being seen as a bit of a braggart insisting his Australian troops were the, 'finest troops on the Western Front' to being acclaimed as such as messages from all Allied Commands poured in later that day. Over the next day's officers from all Allied Commands arrived at Monash's Head Quarters to be briefed in detail about the operation. On the 12th of August 1918, His Majesty King George V, knighting Lieutenant-General Sir John Monash, Australian Corps Commander, at the Corps Headquarters in the Chateau, when General Monash was invested as a Knight Commander of the Bath. This was the first time in 200 years that a British monarch had knighted a commander on the battlefield.

If you like to hear about Australian Generals, try reading about the Defence of Tobruk in the second World War, commanding General Australian Moreshead, (nicknamed Ming the merciless) and the tactics he used against Erwin Rommel's Africa Korp.

"Monash the forgotten ANZAC" is documentary/drama with more details about this fascinating man.

You may also find the Battle of Beersheba 1917 interesting. While Hamel was the first truely intergrated modern battle, Beersheba was the last great successful cavalry charge carried out by the Australian Light Horse

And we put him on our Money, the Hundred

Monash cared about his men and the horrific number of casualties so he though and planned. The English officers still just wanted to throw wave after wave of men to their death while they had tea.

A friend of mine was a US Marine in Vietnam during the war. While there he had a good amount of contact with Aussie "diggers" and had noting but the highest praise for them.He described them as being "tough as nails".

The portrait of Sir John Monash is on the reverse of the Australian $100 banknote introduced in 1996 which is on polymer.

Fun fact any military historian worth there salt should know. When the U.S. finally entered WW I and the vanguard of there army arrived they were offered British leadership to help them adapt to global industrialized warfare. They refused this and an offer from the French. Instead they chose to join the Newly formed ANZAC forces. This was the start of a long and still enduring partnership of trust and respect between the Aussies and Americans that exists to this day. This makes Australia the ONLY country in the world to have direct command over U.S. forces in any conflict and, those Americans are the only soldiers outside of Australia and New Zealand that have the right to call themselves ANZAC's. One of the main reasons for this was Sir John Monash was the first commanding general to lead a successful large scale combined arms operation EVER, Allowing the evolution of the modern doctrine and strategic planning we see today.

You had steely Australian soldiers , smart to the metre. Smart and tough boys .

As I recall, the Americans troops were pissed off with Pershing facilitating recalling half the Americans planned to join Monash. Later, some switched uniforms or wore slouch hats to join Monash again. At some stage they held up an advance as they had to be hurried along from taking cover as Monash timed his battles meticulously like an opera, timing was so important~The King came from Britain to knight him at the front ~

Study up on the March/April 1918 German spring offensive at Villers Brettoneux. The Germans came within a whisker of winning WW1. The French armies had mutinied and were refusing to fight or advance, The Germans completely destroyed the British fifth army, routing it, taking 100 000 prisoners and advanced to within 10 miles of Amiens. this left a huge gap between the French and British armies . Fortunately 4 Australian divisions were rushed into the gap and fought 20+ German divisons to a stand still, in 12 battles over 4 weeks they defeated 10 times their number all 12 times. Two brigades of australians launched a night attack on the 25th April that surrounded Villers Brettoneux and recaptured the town. This attack was called the finest feat of arms of the War. This led to the failure of the german spring offensive. After rest and reinforcement the Australians then attacked Hamel, and finally St Quentin leading to the collapse of the German front lines pricipating the end of the war.

A Great Uncle, a ww1 Australian Gunner told me when I was a kid Monash was a brilliant planner. Same Uncle asked me to get a old aussie jam tin off the sill and look inside. What I saw was a twisted ball of rusted steal. Old Uncle Jack lifted his trouser up his leg to reveal a hole in his calf muscle where this German artillery shrapnel had been cut out, he had also been gassed In battle . Mate God bless the Anzacs

One thing we Australians all too often forget is that the mighty New Zealanders were every bit as good as we were on the battlefield without a doubt, the difference was the Australians played up something fierce off the battlefield whereas the New Zealanders were far better behaved. This surprised the fuck out of the Americans who couldn't believe their eyes at the shit we got up to. Monash and his brass largely tolerate this because of the way the Australian troops and New Zealand were used plugging holes in the British lines where the real threat of breakout was imminent, so we saved the day on more than a few occasions. An example of how good we were is that Australians gained 2.1 times the distance of a British soldier on the battlefield. The British captured more German equipment and German soldiers because of a different battle philosophy whereas we were all about meters gained we would leave the British to tidy up after the damage we caused to the Germans line. There are no other soldiers from any country on earth that the Australian troop would rather have on our flank than the mighty New Zealanders period because we can trust them to a tee in the thick violent battle.

My great grandfather fought at Hamel in the vicinity of the Roman Road with 23rd Battalion A.I.F. He was gassed during the German counter-attack and had a terrible hacking cough for the rest of his life.

What this guy fails to mention is that general Pershing withdrew most of the Americans from the battle of hamel at the last minute due to him not wanting to have American troops fight under “foreign “ command. Only those who were right in the front line were not withdrawn. This is why American was not an allied country, it was considered a co-billigirant country as it didn’t come under the allied command structure.

I was researching some British WW1 records recently and found in a 1918 regimental war diary the plans to be followed for an upcoming battle and information for ground troops. It was the same as the co-ordinated use of tanks, artillery, troops and planes mentioned in the video. But what I was amazed at was the way ground troops could communicate with planes using ground markers allowing the planes to pass on the messages by radio to HQ and request support or changes in almost real time, for instance increase, decrease or halt the speed of creeping barrage. I was even more surprised to find that small units could request re-supply by air of ammo, food or water, however the advice did state that this should only be used when absolutely necessary as resources for this were limited. Resupply by air was something I thought didn't even exist until WW2.

Great video mate, keep them coming

The Americans were under the command of the Australians at Hamel, well kind of. At the last minute the Americans withdrew. A few who seemed to have developed a temporary hearing loss and didn’t hear the order to run away, stayed for the fight, which turned out to be the first successful use of combined arms and planned to perfection.

To learn more about Monash I can recommend an excellent biography "Monash - The Outsider that won a War" by Roland Perry.

ANOTHER one of YOUR vids,?which are GOOD…. THANK YOU! 😃🙃👍🏼👣

Monash is the inventor of combined military attack the farther of blitz strig which the Germans used in the second ww2

The real tragedy of WW1 is that it took the Allies until 1918 to introduce combined arms and that it had to come from the small army of Australia, and not the British or French. Like many inventions, it is easy to say that it is so obvious, that someone should have thought of it earlier. Monash had the idea long before 1918 but he could not implement it until he was put in charge.

What the video fails to mention is that the US troops were directly under the command of Monash and when the commander of the American Expeditionary Force, General General John J. Pershing heard of Monash's plan, Pershing, ordered the withdrawal of all six American companies from Monash's command. However, the US 42nd Battalion ignored Pershing's order and fought alongside the Australians, earning their place in the history of modern warfare.

Monash was a great strategist but being Australian he got on well with Australian troops where Australians really butted heads with the British leadership

Following a recommendation from an Australian officer, 'Corporal Thomas Pope of Company "E", 131st Infantry Regiment, 33rd Division' who passed away on June 14 1989 was awarded the Medal of Honor also awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal, by King George V and Médaille Militaire and Croix de Guerre (France). His Citation: His company was advancing behind the tanks when it was halted by hostile machinegun fire. Going forward alone, he rushed a machinegun nest, killed several of the crew with his bayonet, and, standing astride his gun, held off the others until reinforcements arrived and captured them. One of two Victoria Cross Australia's highest medals was won by Private Harry Dalziel who was serving as a Lewis gun operator with the 15th Battalion capturing a position called Pear Trench. With a revolver in each hand, Harry dashed at an enemy machine-gun post, single-handedly capturing the gun and its entire crew. He raced out over open ground under heavy fire three times to secure ammunition boxes even though he’d been severely wounded. We were harassed by murderous fire from a nearby enemy stronghold,” he wrote. “My gun had cleaned up one nest, but another planted in a different direction opened fire. I dashed at it killing seven Germans with my own revolvers. One German bloodhound wounded me in the hand, but I soon had him on the ground. I lunged at him with my German dagger, catching him right over the heart. His dying cry upset me and I shivered. Harry was ordered to the rear for medical treatment, but ignored the order and was found in the thick of the fighting when Pear Trench was finally captured. “Blood was pouring from my wounded hand but I advanced with the others,” he wrote. “The poor Huns came up with their hands above their heads calling ‘Merci Comrade’. They were handing out watches of different makes, gold and silver leaf wrist watches of beautiful designs. I felt like a warlord with my two revolvers pointing at them and one dagger in my belt. We sent them off with their beautiful watches to the ‘moppers up’. This was a grand experience for me and I relished every minute of it. We found Huns dead in all directions, up in trees, under duck boards, in shell holes … everywhere.” Harry’s trigger finger had been badly injured when his hand was wounded in the attack on the machine-gun post, and he was again ordered to the aid post for treatment, but again he refused, going only as far as the ammunition boxes. “My ammunition ran out, so I had to go and look for more,” he wrote. “One machine gun dogged me up, only for my vamoose he would have had me. I noticed when he finished firing, I had two spent bullets stuck in my puttee. A near miss. I had to crawl on my hands and knees over the hill. I had a charmed life and carried on to the ammunition dump. I could see the ammunition in boxes scattered all over the place. The first box I saw I put on my shoulder and made my way back, and then the fun commenced. They were throwing everything at me from the needle to the elephant. One whiz-bang burst behind me. A 5.9 came at me nearly hitting the box. “I was going to carry on only I fell into a shell hole full of water. I crawled as I have never crawled before, placing my belt around the box of ammunition. I could see my cold-blooded machine gun nest near at hand so I pushed on and almost fell over into it. To my consternation, I found that I had brought hand grenades instead of ammunition for my little “Tilly” Lewis machine gun … “I gave the grenades to the troops digging in, and got going again … A few stray shells were lobbing around me but they did not concern me. The Germans might have been clearing out, but to my sorrow they were advancing again, coming on in hoards about five hundred yards away from our objective … I got down to my gun again and this time it was real shooting. All along the line, our machine guns rattled and our artillery had them in a quandary… “After crawling and puffing and dodging shells, and falling into shell holes, I managed to get back with another box of ammunition. I had to change my cocking handle over to the left side because my right hand was getting stiff. My feet were sore and my head ached as if there were two or three heads on my shoulders … The Germans were slacking off a bit but the sniper fire still kept on popping away. They had several pot shots at me so I climbed a little nearer to the ground and hugged my little Lewis gun. “I started to roll about in pain. I got out of my machine gun nest and scrambled back again … I felt a pain in my head with blood streaming from the left side of my head near the temple. They had hit me at last. Harry had been hit in the head by a sniper’s bullet which shattered his skull and left part of his brain exposed. His mates thought he was dead, but despite all odds, Harry managed to survive. “He was put on the pile of bodies, but someone noticed that he was still going,” David said. “He was rushed off to a hospital in Rouen in France where the real life-saving work happened … [but] I argue about why he didn’t die actually. A mate who was with him [said] the sniper’s bullet hit his helmet and the hole in the helmet was as big as a man’s fist … The wound was quite big Harry was awarded the 1,000th Victoria Cross for his actions that day at Hamel a century ago. “His magnificent bravery and devotion to duty was an inspiring example to all his comrades,” the citation read. “And his dash and unselfish courage at a most critical time undoubtedly saved many lives and turned what would have been a serious check into a splendid success.” When King George V presented Harry with the Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace in December 1918, Harry was said to have been so nervous that he was bowing to everyone he met, including the waiters. But even in the thick of battle at Hamel, Harry never lost his compassion. “A little German boy in tin hat and grey uniform only about 14 or 15 years old came crying to me ‘Merci Comrade Merci’ out in No Man’s Land,” he later wrote. “Two burly Yanks came at him with their bayonets fixed. Stop I cried, raising my two empty revolvers. Don’t move or I will blow your bloody heads off.” He told them to take the “little German back to the Captain” and “on passing the dressing station, I saw a German soldier with his foot blown away and the two Yanks and the little Fritz conversing together. One of the Yanks came over to me and said, ‘This German soldier wants to speak to you.’ ‘Comrade,’ he said to me, ‘you have saved my son,’ and without any hocks to it, he shook my hand.” It was a moment, Harry would never forget. Australia is the only country that has fought alongside the Americans in every theatre America has fought in from the Battle of Hammel to this very day, quite a remarkable shared history.

The funeral procession of Sir John Monash had at least one QUARTER Of the total population Melbourne over two hundred and fifty thousand people considering the total population of Melbourne at the time was one million people..... This gives a real idea of how he was revered by the people.

General Sir John Monash was also a qualified Patent Attorney. After WW1 he was instrumental in honouring Australian servicemen with constructing War Memorials and a road engineering project that is the single biggest war memorial in the World (the Great Ocean Road in the State of Victoria).When you know that no other allied nation lost more men per head of population than Australia in WW1 and that Australia only had a total population of slightly less than 5 Million in 1914 and 38.7 % of all males aged 18-44 enlisted you realise that the outcome was horrendous to the population demographics. As the oldest member of my family and the family historian, I have gathered information on our WW1 ANZAC WW2 servicemen family members and their and keep the history alive when ANZAC commemorations by my youngest grandchildren at school occur.

At 7:40, America did not 'give' any equipment to the allied war effort before entering the war. The equipment was sold. But hey, Australia got a loan off Britain, to fight Britons war. After the war, repayments made the great depression much greater than it had to be.

Monash's. bigest critic ,raising the fact he was of German jewish decent and the whole reason australian PM Billy Hughes visited the battle field was none other than Keith Murdoch, Rupets father..get the picture? After the war Monash set up the victorian electricity grid, when he died over 300,000 lined the streets of melbourne australia to pay their respects..,. His headstone simply reads John Monash.....he is one our $100 note..a great Australian🇦🇺🇦🇺

Can you make a video, explaining what the National Guard is, many people outside the USA won't know.

Interesting trivia about Monash, he became wealthy before the war when he gained the licence in Australia to use the Intellectual property for reinforced concrete

John Monash 1st General knighted in the field by a British King for 300 years.

Monash's biggest enemy wasn't on the battlefield. Keith Murdoch (father of Rupert Murdoch and founder of the Murdoch media empire) was a constant thorn in Monash's side, constantly trying to have him replaced and in many cases outright lied to the likes of Prime Minister Billy Hughes. It was Hughes meeting with Australian troops and Monash prior to Hamel that kept Monash in command despite the protests of Murdoch.

hi mate. happy fourth of July

A Little bit MORE trivia, is the US production capacity had been so good The Philippines would not have fallen! The had PLENTY of notice and calls to send !

Great show. Thanks. Black Americans were among the first to fight. Pershing was happy to allocate black units to the French with few restrictions. It would have been great for them to be allocated to the Australian AIF. Pershing wanted other US units to be under his direct control. The AIF units were undermanned due to 4 years of heavy and bloody fighting. The last 100 days of allied victories started a few weeks after the Hamel battle. Using more combined arms tactics. Monash was Australia's greatest military leaders. The battle plan was very complex. This included specific training for all of the soldiers. The August offensive was a heavy blow for the Germans with heavy losses and the Hindenburg line broken in places.

Monash learned the hard way at Gallipoli if attacks were not planned well they went to shit rather quickly. Fighting at dead man's Ridge , quinns post and out in the hills during the august offensive showed him that you had to plan assaults properly to have a chance of success.

It is sad that it is the incompetent British generals who are most remembered, mostly because of their disastrous results in deaths of their own men, while a truly great general like Monash is largely forgotten.

Look up sir John Monash he is regarded as the best general in WW1 He was knighted by the king first person to do so. And he was from my home town of Melbourne there is a Uni named after him

The video was disappointing in very little detail as to the battle. The comments section here however is awesome, packed with details, thanks everyone!

Youre a student of modern military history, yet you'd never heard of Monash!?! By now you'd know he modernised mechanical warfare.. Even after Hamel Ludendorffs Black Day of the German Army (Aug 8) this was mainly down the Monash and his meticulous planning..he saved an immense amount of lives. Pershing had definitely heard of him and the Australians, he wanted his men (US) blooded with the AIF..night raids, day raids (stunts). If you read into this, you'll find it got a lot of British noses out of joint, wanting to be taught Australian tactics. I suggest reading CEW Beans History of Australia in the Great War... How a military history shd be written (and a lot now are).. Only 5% of the Allied forces took 20% of ground, 20% of Prisoners, broke morale of the enemy in 'quiet' sectors.... It cost our country so much, yet you hardly ever hear about Australia and New Zealand. Ever wonder why all our 'war songs' are anti war? Read up and find out.

Monash was a brilliant General I think his biggest gift was he wasn't a professional soldier. He was an engineer so he understood Artillery was a survey scheme and him planning was meticulous. There is still a push in Australia to get him posthumously promoted to Field Marshall the heights rank in the Australian Army.

Monash was a legend. Having German parents he spoke German. Before the war he corresponded with German weapons makers so he knew what artillery, machine guns and most other German weapons could do. Any prisoners he interrogated himself, speaking the language he got vital up to date info he could use in his planning. Realized the importance of aerial reconnaissance during a battle so he could make adjustments to a battle plan. On the flip side his german speaking made the English officers think he had German sympathies which held him back for so long. It was the complete uselessness of English Field Marshall Haig who by his own men was nicknamed the butcher that Monash finally got the command he so well deserved. The Americans after witnessing Haig in action would not let their men serve under him. And to many men Monash shortened the war and saved thousands of Allied lives with his well planned attacks using every weapon at his disposal. On a sort of flip side it's said Hitler based his Blitzkrieg on Monash's attacks.

Monash - the greatest Australian the country has ever had.

I am not much of a war Historian! But I can tell you Monash is well respected here in Australia. When he came back from the Great War he was placed in charge of helping the soldiers integrate back into society with jobs created by him. Australian soldiers greatly respected him. However in higher society he was shunned, simply because he was a Jew and denied any job for a man of his standing. When he died (there is film footage) he was given a state funeral and Australian soldier far and wide attended and marched/ held the corridor that the funeral cart went through. The largest state funeral for anyone here before or since.

This is a bit of lark, a bloke by the name of Barney Hines who was a merchant seaman from Liverpool as war broke out and jumped ship in Australia and joined the Australian Army. Barney was so full on that he should have won half a dozen VC's but because of his appalling behaviour off the battlefield that was never going to be the case. He was all too often fined and or jailed, so he would grab two hessian bags full of grenades and a knife and cross no man's land on his own hop into the German front line enter bunkers full of Germans to cause utter fucking havoc to steal German souvenirs to sell to pay his fines off. On one occasion under heavy fire machine guns and small arms fire in battle, with his mates pinned down, he single-handedly made his way forward to the concrete machine-gun bunker and did a jig on top of the bunker yelling, come out you bastards and proceeded to take the bunker killing multiple Germans. Barney was a man that all of the Australians were terrified of as you might imagine let alone the Germans. Barney settled in Sydney after the war and became the weird scary guy that lived up the street terrifying t local kids.

Good presentation. Thanks for that. If you are interested in finding out more about Monash and the Battle of Hamel, "The History Guy" on You Tube has a great 14 minute vid entitled: "John Monash, The Australian Corps and WW1" which goes into more detail about both the Battle and the man. Better still, is a book named: "The Heroes of Hamel" (published 2018) which devotes several Chapters to the involvement of the Americans in the Battle and the degree of coordination of available military resources. Keep up trhe good work.

Monash was regarded by Rommel as the best General of WWI.

by the time that the USA came in to the war, the European Powers had fought each other almost to a standstill and would have been obliged to settle on realistic terms any peace deal. What you, Halestone, must consider, is what changed Pres. Wilson's mind re: staying out of the war. Had the USA not intervened, some say that Germany would nt have had such crippling reparations leveied against it and that Hitler would not have had a platform on which to stand against the German debt crisis and hence, no WW2.

The British really didn't like the Aussie to do well they often took credit for our gains it often is stated as a British victory or allied victory not Aussie one.

It was the first battle for the Americans but unfortunately, they got a few Australians killed including some with Distinguished Service Cross (DSC), VC etc, because of their inability to fight a war this way. I guess they were too gun-hoe and going too fast and getting bombed etc. They weren't allowed to fight in that battle some of them did anyway because the US didn't want their soldiers fighting in a battle with a first-time Australian battle plan under an Australian.

Lest we forget.

Millions of quintals eh? what the stuff is a quintal ?

More Trivia. Although they only made up 10% of the forces The Australians took 25% of all land, inflicted 25% of ALL caualities on the Germans in WW1.

Most of the Aussie Victorians were not credited to us the British took the credit. Monash was brilliant

Monash was a genius, imagine how things would have been had he not been a German-Jewish son of a migrant

Mate a known fact American said if we need a general to lead us we want Monash !! The poms we’re not happy with this! US had there own generals but learn from him

What happened to Field Marshall Sir John Monash?

as long as us Anglos stick together She'lll be right mate

🇦🇺

John Monash is the last general to have been knighted on the battlefield.

Strange there is basically nothing about the battle of Hamel? You need to learn about the ANZACS.

Geez, that was annoying! 1:59 I hate when people put on an accent to say foreign names! They certainly don’t do it when pronouncing our place names🤷🏼‍♀️