Monash and Me: Peter Greste On Australia’s Great Commander
Series | 2018 | ABCWalkley award-winning investigative journalist and war correspondent Peter Greste embarks on a journey to demystify the story of Australia’s Great War hero, Sir John Monash. While examining the battles that made Monash famous, Peter also discovers his own family’s previously unknown role in Monash’s First Australian Imperial Force.
For Peter, Monash’s war becomes personal. Monash is a towering figure in Australia’s story of World War 1. Celebrated as one of the great tacticians of the Great War with his innovative battle tactics, he helped to smash the stalemate on the Western Front. How did this Australian born German Jew and civilian soldier – come to lead the 1st AIF at the Western Front and be the first commander in 200 years to be knighted on the battlefield?
Peter unearths private letters, diary entries and army records from protagonists on both sides of the conflict and uncovers the fate of his great-uncles who fought under Monash. By shining a fresh light onto Monash’s triumphs and tragedies, Peter will offer up his assessment on Monash’s legacy for contemporary Australia, and the wider impact, then and now, of his multiple achievements.
