General Sir John MonashPrint Page

The hall commemorates General Sir John Monash who died in 1931. The foundation stone, which states it was laid by the Premier Sir Thomas Playford, was actually unveiled by Mr MacGillivray as World War Two was declared on that day and the Premier was recalled to Adelaide.

General Sir John Monash GCMG, KCB, VD (27 June 1865 – 8 October 1931) was a civil engineer who became the Australian military commander in World War One. He commanded the 13th Infantry Brigade before the war and then, shortly after the outbreak of the war, became commander of the 4th Brigade in Egypt, with whom he took part in the Gallipoli campaign. In July 1916, he took charge of the new Australian 3rd Division in northwestern France and in May 1918 he was made commander of the Australian Corps, at the time the largest corps on the Western Front. On 8 August 1918 the successful Allied attack at the Battle of Amiens, which led to the expedited end to the war, was planned by Monash and spearheaded by British forces including the Australian and Canadian Corps under Monash and Arthur Currie. Monash is considered to be one of the best Allied generals of World War One.

The foundation stone of the new memorial hall at Monash was performed on Saturday by  Mr. Macgillivray. In place of the Premier (Mr. Playford). Among the visitors were 64 members of the Prospect sub-branch of the R.S.L.. The president of the Monash new hall committee (Mr. R. W Nixon) referred to a message from the Premier saying that his duty was with his Government. He left Berri at 11 am. for Adelaide. The foundation stone, which was presented by the Prospect sub-branch, had been cut from a block of marble from the old Parliament House. In the absence of the Acting Director of Education (Dr. C. E. Penner), Inspector Gerlach gave an address.
The Advertiser (Adelaide), 4 September 1939.

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