Monash and Chauvel

Monash and Chauvel PDF Author: Roland Perry
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1760639796
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 630

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Book Description
Monash and Chauvel is a gripping narrative history that follows the extraordinary campaigns of the two most outstanding battlefield commanders of the First World War across all the Allied armies: John Monash and Harry Chauvel. John Monash commanded the Australian forces on the Western Front at the most critical time of the war, 1918. With his German Jewish heritage, Monash was an outsider who had risen to his position through his ground-breaking military achievements. Almost uniquely among Allied generals on the Western Front, he learned the lessons of past failures and devised the tactics that allowed his Australian troops to break through the stalemate of trench warfare, masterminding crucial battles, including Amiens, Mont St Quentin, Peronne, and at the Hindenburg Line that broke the German Army in France. In the war against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East, Harry Chauvel led the 34,000-strong Desert Mounted Column. Chauvel was an Empire man, who considered himself as British first, Australian second. His attitude changed in the course of the war, when he realised he would have to ignore the directives of his British superiors and take the initiative in planning battle tactics himself if he was to defeat the Turks. He did this at Romani in the Sinai in August 1916; at Beersheba on 31 October 1917; and in the final 1918 drive to push the Turks right out of the Middle East after 400 years of brutal rule over the Arab tribes. By the end of the war Monash and Chauvel had brought a distinctly Australian sensibility to their areas of operation, involving flexibility, innovation and a deep respect for the troops they led, which was in turn reciprocated by their men. Their impact on the war was immense and, in this fascinating and compelling account, bestselling author Roland Perry does full justice to their extraordinary careers and the soldiers under their command.

Monash and Chauvel

Monash and Chauvel PDF Author: Roland Perry
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1760639796
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 630

Get Book Here

Book Description
Monash and Chauvel is a gripping narrative history that follows the extraordinary campaigns of the two most outstanding battlefield commanders of the First World War across all the Allied armies: John Monash and Harry Chauvel. John Monash commanded the Australian forces on the Western Front at the most critical time of the war, 1918. With his German Jewish heritage, Monash was an outsider who had risen to his position through his ground-breaking military achievements. Almost uniquely among Allied generals on the Western Front, he learned the lessons of past failures and devised the tactics that allowed his Australian troops to break through the stalemate of trench warfare, masterminding crucial battles, including Amiens, Mont St Quentin, Peronne, and at the Hindenburg Line that broke the German Army in France. In the war against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East, Harry Chauvel led the 34,000-strong Desert Mounted Column. Chauvel was an Empire man, who considered himself as British first, Australian second. His attitude changed in the course of the war, when he realised he would have to ignore the directives of his British superiors and take the initiative in planning battle tactics himself if he was to defeat the Turks. He did this at Romani in the Sinai in August 1916; at Beersheba on 31 October 1917; and in the final 1918 drive to push the Turks right out of the Middle East after 400 years of brutal rule over the Arab tribes. By the end of the war Monash and Chauvel had brought a distinctly Australian sensibility to their areas of operation, involving flexibility, innovation and a deep respect for the troops they led, which was in turn reciprocated by their men. Their impact on the war was immense and, in this fascinating and compelling account, bestselling author Roland Perry does full justice to their extraordinary careers and the soldiers under their command.

Monash's Masterpiece

Monash's Masterpiece PDF Author: Peter FitzSimons
Publisher: Hachette Australia
ISBN: 0733640095
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 409

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Book Description
The Battle of Le Hamel on 4 July 1918 was an Allied triumph, and strategically very important in the closing stages of WWI. A largely Australian force, commanded by the brilliant Sir John Monash, fought what has been described as the first modern battle - where infantry, tanks, artillery and planes operated together as a coordinated force. Monash planned every detail meticulously, with nothing left to chance. Integrated use of tanks, planes, infantry, wireless (and even carrier pigeons!) was the basis, and it went on from there, down to the details: everyone used the same maps, with updated versions delivered by motorbike despatch riders to senior commanders, including Monash. Each infantry battalion was allocated to a tank group, and they advanced together. Supplies and ammunition were dropped as needed from planes. The losses were relatively few. In the words of Monash: 'A perfected modern battle plan is like nothing so much as a score for an orchestral composition, where the various arms and units are the instruments, and the tasks they perform are their respective musical phrases.' Monash planned for the battle to last for 90 minutes - in the end it went for 93. What happened in those minutes changed for the rest of the war the way the British fought battles, and the tactics and strategies used by the Allies. Peter FitzSimons brings this Allied triumph to life, and tells this magnificent story as it should be told.

Monash

Monash PDF Author: Roland Perry
Publisher: Random House Australia
ISBN: 1741668476
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 650

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Book Description
'Compelling and wholly absorbing... among the most remarkable Australians of his time' Senator Bob Carr, Foreign Affairs Minister Australian general Sir John Monash changed the way wars were fought and won. When the British and German high commands of the First World War failed to gain ascendency after fours years of slaughter never before seen in human history, Monash used innovative techniques and modern technology to plan and win major battles, forcing Germany to capitulate. His obsessional, brilliant planning, coupled with a ruthless streak, caused him to break the German army in a succession of battles that led to the end of the Great War. Author Roland Perry brings to life the fascinating story of the man whom many have judged as the greatest-ever Australian. Monash: The Outsider Who Won A War draws on the subject's comprehensive letter and diary archive - one of the largest in Australia's history. The result is a riveting portrait that reaches to the heart of the true Monash character. It weaves together the many strands of his life as a family man, student, engineer, businessman, lawyer, renaissance man, teacher, soldier, leader, romantic and lover of the arts.

Museums, History and the Intimate Experience of the Great War

Museums, History and the Intimate Experience of the Great War PDF Author: Joy Damousi
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000201341
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
The Great War of 1914-1918 was fought on the battlefield, on the sea and in the air, and in the heart. Museums Victoria’s exhibition World War I: Love and Sorrow exposed not just the nature of that war, but its depth and duration in personal and familial lives. Hailed by eminent scholar Jay Winter as "one of the best which the centenary of the Great War has occasioned", the exhibition delved into the war’s continuing emotional claims on descendants and on those who encounter the war through museums today. Contributors to this volume, drawn largely from the exhibition’s curators and advisory panel, grapple with the complexities of recovering and presenting difficult histories of the war. In eleven essays the book presents a new, more sensitive and nuanced narrative of the Great War, in which families and individuals take centre stage. Together they uncover private reckonings with the costs of that experience, not only in the years immediately after the war, but in the century since.

The Commanders

The Commanders PDF Author: D. M. Horner
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000339246
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 471

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Book Description
Originally published in 1984, this book tells the story of sixteen of Australia’s most eminent military men, as they performed under the stress of strategy-making and in the heat of battle. In scrutinising critical periods in the careers of such men as Brudenell White, Chauvel, Monash, Gordon Bennett, Blamey and Scherger, it addresses a number of fascinating questions: Is there an Australian style of command? How well have Australian officers been prepared for high command? How have Australian commanders handled the problems of coalition way or co-operation with allies? How have political direction, organisational structures and entrenched defence policy affected the performance of commanders in the field? Each re-evaluation compares performance with reputation. Some of the figures examined are familiar (What was the real basis of Monash’s reputation as a commander? Was Blamey worthy of the field-marshal’s baton?); some are given an appraisal long denied them. This roll-call of some of Australia’s greatest warriors presents a fascinating picture of the realities of war at the top. Each of the sixteen lives examined presents a revealing account of the conditions under which crucial military decisions are made and carried out – on the battlefield, at headquarters, in victory and defeat. The Commanders will appeal not only to students of military affairs but to everyone interested in Australian history and biography.

Sword and Baton Volume 1: 1900 to 1939

Sword and Baton Volume 1: 1900 to 1939 PDF Author: Justin Chadwick
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1925520315
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 623

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Book Description
Sword and Baton is a collection of 86 biographies representing every Australian Army officer to reach the rank of major general from Federation to the outbreak of World War II. This is the first of two volumes, and its scope is broad, including chaplains-general, surgeons-general and British Army officers who served with the AIF or the permanent forces. Author Justin Chadwick portrayal of these officers careers provides a lens through which he examines trends such as the development of military skills which ensured that, by the commencement of hostilities in 1914, Australia boasted a pool of well-trained, albeit inexperienced officers. The effects of command under pressure of war and the enormous physical impact of combat are likewise portrayed in these comprehensive biographies. By the end of hostilities Australian officers had garnered immense experience and were among the best in the Allied forces. Ironically, this hard-won skill base was to be all but lost in the interwar period. Sword and Baton offers its readers more than a series of biographies. Rather, it describes a crucial period in Australian military history through the lives of the extraordinary men at its head.

The Australian Light Horse

The Australian Light Horse PDF Author: Roland Perry
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 0733626122
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 525

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Book Description
First raised during the Boer War, the Light Horse attracted many from the outback - men who knew how to survive and fight in hot and dry country, and who had a special bond with their horses. Battle-hardened at Gallipoli, by the time the men arrived in Palestine they were more than ready to play their critical role in Colonel Lawrence's defeat of the Turks (in the face of the British High Command's acceptance of the status quo). And under their brilliant commander, Sir Harry Chauvel, they were victorious in the Sinai, Palestine and Syria - culminating in the last great cavalry charge in our history, the taking of Beersheba in 1917. Their victories played a decisive part in shaping Middle Eastern history in the 20th century. Roland Perry tells the story as it deserves to be told - with colour and authority, bringing their exploits to life. Every Australian knows this story - but few, until now, have read it. 'a history book that deserves a place in every suburban home library . . . the story of an extraordinary generation of Australians who created an enduring legend while changing the course of history' - West Australian 'the first great read about the victories of the Australian cavalry in Arabia' - The Australian 'conjures up the romantic image of the Light Horse that endures to this day' - Herald Sun 'briskly written, well-researche'd - The Age 'A compulsive read' - Newcastle Herald

William Holmes

William Holmes PDF Author: Geoffrey Travers
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1922387010
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 542

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Book Description
The road that first leads people from Kingsford Smith Airport in Sydney is named General Holmes Drive, but nowadays few Australians know anything about General Holmes. William Holmes could be remembered for his lifelong public service in developing Sydney’s water supply and sewerage system — but he should be remembered as one of the foremost Australian citizen soldiers of his time. Holmes commanded Australia’s first independent military expeditionary force in World War I, and in New Guinea accepted the first German surrender for Australia. At Gallipoli, Pozières, Bullecourt and Messines, Holmes earned a reputation for fearlessness in battle, believing that at critical times and even during pauses in engagement, reconnaissance should be conducted by the officers in command making the decisions. He was known to all his soldiers and his leadership inspired their affection and loyalty. Philosophical about the risks he took on the battlefield, it was cruel irony indeed that Holmes was killed on the day he took extra safety precautions. Holmes, a contemporary of John Monash, arguably achieved more in his early career than his peer and would certainly have been a contender for command of the Australian Corps in 1918 had he still been alive. This is his story.

Continental Drift

Continental Drift PDF Author: Rawdon Dalrymple
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351753622
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 485

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Book Description
This title was first published in 2003. Original, insightful and well-organized, Rawdon Dalrymple studies Australia's sense of vulnerability and attachment to distant protectors which has coexisted with tendencies of both assertiveness and complacency. Penetrating and authoritative the book examines the cautious development of Australian relations with East Asia during the 1980s and 1990s, with detailed coverage of the background to the Australian effort and critical analysis of where Australian forays into the politics of the region leave its standing in East Asia and the world today.

Bill the Bastard

Bill the Bastard PDF Author: Roland Perry
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1743430302
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 189

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Book Description
An epic yarn based on the true story of a great Australian war horse who rode with bravery and valour at Gallipoli, the desert campaigns of Egypt, and Palestine.