Honour Monash - A great Australian

 

 
 
The 1918 Monash Diary

 

As the centenary year 2018 of the time when Monash proving to be the most advanced thinker of all senior officers on the Western Front worked for a democratic future.

Month by month as the year unfolds the current month will display, you can also click on the other month buttons below to read what happened. Click again on the same button to hide the detail for that month.



Map of the AO

Memorial at WarnetonMonash started February as he had finished January, with aggression. 3 Div was raiding, dominating no-man's land and retaining the initiative. At Warneton eight kilometres east of Messines 200 men from the 37 and 38 Battalions attacked on 10 February 1918. The German soldiers thought it was a full-scale attack to take their position. There were 10 Australian casualties, 40 Germans dead or wounded, 33 Germans taken as prisoners. The Germans hit back, but their raiding parties were smaller and did not penetrate our lines.

All prisoners were interrogated by Australian German speakers; if there was a prisoner of interest, Monash personally took over the interrogation. Monash was keen to know when and where the attack would take place once German troops were released from the eastern front. The only information he could glean was that the attack would not fall where Australians were known to be holding the line. The attack would fall where the allies were weak.

Birdwood continued to command the Australian Corps, a Corps in name only with most of its divisions detached. It would be April before at least four would be co-located and able to be welded as a single force.

The storm clouds were gathering. Monash wanted to know when and where the lightening would strike.

John Howells 2018













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