Tuggeranong Suburbs - MONASH
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Size: 
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Number 2 in the Tuggeranong Suburbs series.....
The suburb of Monash is named after General Sir John Monash, (1865 to 1931), who commanded the Australian Army in France in the First World War.
It was gazetted on 1 August 1975 and first settled in 1978.
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John Monash was born in Dudley Street, West Melbourne, Victoria, on 27 June 1865. In 1874 the family moved to the small town of Jerilderie in the Riverina region of New South Wales, where his father ran a store. Monash later claimed to have met the bushranger Ned Kelly during his raid there in 1879.
Monash attended the public school and his intelligence was noted. The family moved back to Melbourne and Monash was educated at Scotch College where he was dux of the school.
When war broke out in 1914, Monash became a full-time Army officer. When the Australian Imperial Force was formed, he was sent as the commander of the 4th Infantry Brigade to Egypt.
In 1915 his brigade, as part of the New Zealand and Australian Division, participated in the disastrous Gallipoli campaign. The brigade initially defended the line between Pope's Hill and Courtney's Post, and the valley behind this line became known as "Monash Valley". There he made a name for himself with his independent decision-making and his organisational ability. He was promoted to brigadier general in July.
During the August offensive, Monash's objective was the capture of Hill 971, the highest point on the Sari Bair range, but a failure to get his troops through poorly mapped mountainous terrain prior to the battle resulted in disaster for the last co-ordinated effort to defeat the Turkish forces on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
Monash commanded the final significant assault of the Gallipoli fighting in the attack on Hill 60 on 21 August, which was only partially successful. His war letters are full of accounts of the gallantry of the men he commanded. When orders came in December 1915 for the evacuation, he methodically supervised the exact course to be followed by members of his own command, and was in one of the last parties to leave.
Great as the disappointment had been over the failure at Gallipoli, there was some comfort in the fact that the evacuation had been so successful. Forty-five thousand men, with mules, guns, stores, provisions and transport valued at several million pounds, had been withdrawn with scarcely a casualty, and without exciting the slightest suspicion in the enemy. Hours afterwards the evacuation, the Turks opened a furious bombardment on (what was) empty trenches.
Soon after the conclusion of hostilities Monash was placed in charge of a special department to carry out the repatriation of the Australian troops. He returned to Australia on 26 December 1919 to a tumultuous welcome.
Later, Monash worked in prominent civilian positions, the most notable being head of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SECV) from October 1920. He was also Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne from 1923 until his death 8 years later. Monash was an active member of the Rotary Club of Melbourne, Australia's first Rotary Club, and served as its second President (1922-23). In 1927, he became patron of the newly-founded Zionist Federation of Australia and New Zealand.
Monash was one of the principal organisers of the annual observance of ANZAC Day, and oversaw the planning for Melbourne's monumental war memorial, the Shrine of Remembrance. Monash was honoured with numerous awards and decorations from universities and foreign governments.
Sir John Monash died in Melbourne on 8 October 1931 and was given a state funeral. An estimated 250,000 mourners, the nation's largest funeral crowd to that time, came to pay their respects.
The City of Monash, Monash University and John Monash Science School are named after him. His face is on Australia's highest value currency note ($100).
Monash's success in part reflected the tolerance of Australian society, but to a larger degree his success - in the harshest experience the young nation had suffered - shaped that tolerance and demonstrated to Australians that the Australian character was diverse, multi-ethnic and a blend of the traditions of the 'bush' and the 'city'.
In a final sign of humility, despite his achievements, honours and titles, he instructed that his tombstone simply bear the words "John Monash". He is buried in Melbourne's Brighton General Cemetery.
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The Cache is in a small cavity, under rocks. Please access the cache from behind, moving only the bottom rock - thanks
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*****FTF - chundle*******
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