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Major-General Leslie Morshead  |
| MORSHEAD WAS born in Ballarat, Victoria on 18th September 1889. He became a schoolteacher, teaching first at The Armidale School and later at Melbourne Grammar School. In 1914, with the outbreak of war, he resigned from Melbourne Grammar and went to Sydney to enlist. He was involved in heavy fighting on the Gallipoli peninsula including the Lone Pine offensive. He was promoted to Major on 8th June 1915. After the Lone Pine offensive he was hospitalised in England. In 1916 he returned to Australia to take command of the newly formed 33rd Battalion, which was raised in Armidale. The 33rd sailed for Gallipoli. During the voyage news of the evacuation of the peninsula resulted in the 33rd being redirected to Europe. The 33rd was blooded in the Messines battle. Afterwards Morshead received the Distinguished Service Order. Morshead witnessed the assault on Tobruk by the Australian 6th Division on the 21 January 1941. After Tobruk succumbed he had the opportunity to examine the Italian defences. He was commander of the 9th Australian Division and later commander of the garrison. He was a strict disciplinarian and was nicknamed "Ming the Merciless" by his troops, yet he was greatly respected by them. He banned two-up in the garrison. During the siege Morshead's headquarters were near Fort Pilastrino - which was the former Italian HQ. On occasions that Rommel came up against Morshead (Tobruk and El Alamein), the plans of the former were frustrated. His biography can be found in the bibliography: Morshead. Morshead was succeeded by Major-General R. Mack Scobie as commander of Tobruk Fortress. |
1941-08. TOBRUK. COMMANDING TOBRUK GARRISON - MAJOR GENERAL MORSHEAD. (NEGATIVE BY G. SILK). "So, through a Churchill's excess of imagination, a layman's ignorance of artillery, and the fatal power of a young enthusiasm to convince older and more cautious brains, the tragedy of Gallipoli was born." C.E.W. Bean: Official History |
