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Monash's Masterpiece

The battle of Le Hamel and the 93 minutes that changed the world

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Monash's Masterpiece

By: Peter FitzSimons
Narrated by: Michael Carman
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About this listen

 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. Judaism Military Military & War Oceania World War I War Aviation

Critic Reviews

FitzSimmons writes with verve and passion about Monash and his men. (Paul Pledger)
...a gripping good read.
Sir John Monash deserves all the accolades he has received down the years . . . this book deserves a most honourable place amongst those accolades.
...the great achievement in this book is the level of detail, brilliant sustaining detail, that FitzSimons gives the reader without ever impeding the narrative.
FitzSimons's work reads like a yarn with a garrulous veteran down at the RSL.
Review
Review
Review
well-researched creatively written account of a battle and a man that more Australians should know about.
All stars
Most relevant
A fantastic story and lesson into the deeds of Sir John Monash. Brilliantly written and fantastically narrated this is another Peter Fitzsimmons book that’s hard to put down.

Brilliant history lesson

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Monash- Peter Fitzsimons
I really enjoyed this book that followed on from the Fromelle story and then the Villers Bretonneux battle. I knew so little about Monash. I now intend to listen to Peter Fitzsimon's Gallipoli. I feel I have been shown a slice of important Australian history and now have individual accounts of such men as Jack Axford, Cliff Geddes and Two Guns Harry Dalziel as part of my knowledge of a bygone era that is indeed so easy to forget!!
Lest we forget!!

A revealing tale

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I was in France last month and went to Amiens, Villers-Bretonneux and Le Hamel.
It was sobering to visit the battlefields where the diggers fought and so many are buried.
I was surprised how the French people there continue to be grateful to the Aussies who saved them and was especially moved to see the number of Australian flags being flown there.

The French Remembers

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a really good listen keeps you engages and wanting to hear more. a great tribute to many great men

great

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An outstanding work of an outstanding time with precious details that should all be known. Intensely interesting, shocking, tragic , sad and all emotions in one.
Well done to our ancestors, I don’t imagine back so long ago they would expect the grown men of today to weep at their stories and with such National pride - but there ya go. I wasn’t aware that Monash was subject to such prejudice after the Great War - even more credit to a great Australian. Thank you Peter for such an absorbing work and to Michael for such a vivid performance.

Outstanding

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