Portal:Military history of Australia/Selected biography/4

General Sir John Monash GCMG, KCB, VD (27 June 1865 – 8 October 1931) Australian military commander of World War I, was born in Melbourne, Victoria, to parents of Prussian-Jewish origin. Monash entered the University of Melbourne in 1893 and studied engineering and later law. He joined a militia unit, becoming a colonel in 1913. He joined the AIF at the outbreak off World War I and steadily rose through the ranks. In May 1918, he was promoted to lieutenant general and made commander of the Australian Corps. He held several high public office position after the war, he also has a University, City and Freeway named after him. Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery later wrote: "I would name Sir John Monash as the best general on the western front in Europe."