Leslie Morshead

41

Leslie Morshead : biography

18 September 1889 – 26 September 1959

After working odd jobs he joined the Orient Line in Sydney on 24 October 1924. He was appointed passenger manager of the Sydney office in 1926. Many Orient Line appointments followed. He became publicity manager in January 1927, acting manager of the Melbourne office in May 1928, passenger and publicity superintendent, and then temporary business manager of the Brisbane office in April 1931. He returned to Sydney, and then to the Melbourne office, where he became temporary office manager, a position which became permanent in December 1933; and back to the Sydney office in 1937.

All this time, he remained active in the part-time Militia, commanding the 19th Infantry Battalion from 1921 to 1925. He became commander of the 36th Infantry Battalion on 1 August 1926. He was promoted to colonel in 1933, and was appointed to command the 14th Infantry Brigade on 1 January 1933. When he moved to Melbourne in 1934, he transferred to command of the 15th Infantry Brigade, then part of the 3rd Division under Major General Sir Thomas Blamey. On returning to Sydney in 1937, he assumed command of the 5th Infantry Brigade. During a visit to England in 1937 as part of his duties with the Orient Line, he had occasion to observe the British Army on manoeuvres in East Anglia, and was impressed by the pace of modern mechanised forces. He also realised that the Australian Army was lagging a long way behind in terms of both human and technical resources. He was promoted to brigadier in 1938. Known for his right-wing views even before the war, he was also a member of the clandestine far-right wing paramilitary organisation the New Guard.

First World War

Gallipoli

Morshead’s teaching career was interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914. He resigned both his teaching position and his commission in the Cadet Corps and travelled up to Sydney to enlist as a private in the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) because it was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel George Braund, whom Morshead knew well from his time teaching in Armidale. Morshead’s time in the ranks was brief, as he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the AIF on 19 September. He embarked for Egypt on the transport Suffolk on 18 October 1914. While his battalion was in training there, he was promoted to captain on 8 January 1915.

The 2nd Infantry Battalion landed at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915. Morshead’s platoon transferred from the transport Derfflinger to the destroyer , which took it to within of the shore. They then transferred to wooden boats which were towed to the shore, arriving at around 09:30. The battalion made the farthest advance of any Australian unit that day, reaching the slopes of Baby 700, but was driven back by a Turkish counter-attack in the afternoon. It beat off further counter-attacks over the next three days. Morshead assumed command of C Company on 28 April. The battalion defeated major Turkish attacks on its position on 18 May and 8 June.

Promoted to major on 8 June, Morshead distinguished himself in the Battle of Lone Pine on 6 August. So intense was the fighting that of the 22 officers in the battalion, Morshead was the only one who did not become a casualty. However, on 16 September, like many others, he succumbed to dysentery and paratyphoid fever. He was evacuated to the 3rd General Hospital on Lemnos, and then to England on the hospital ship Aquitania, where he was admitted to the 3rd London General Hospital in Wandsworth, England. For his services in the Gallipoli campaign, he was mentioned in despatches.

Western Front

Morshead returned to Australia on 22 January 1916 where he was treated at the 4th General Hospital at Randwick, New South Wales. After he recovered, he was posted to the 33rd Infantry Battalion, which was being raised in Armidale as part of the 3rd Division. He became its commander on 16 April, and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel three days later. He embarked for England again with his battalion on 4 May 1916.