AUSTRALIAN General John Monash was that rare combination of entrepreneur, polymath and military strategist who was arguably Australia’s outstanding military leader. Professional engineer, lawyer and part-time soldier, he rose to senior command through service at...
MAJOR Charles McMoran Wilson MC, Silver Medal of Military Valour (Italy), twice MID, knew more than most about soldiers and soldiering. As 1st Bn Royal Fusiliers RMO on the Western Front in World War I, he treated their wounds, observed their reactions to climate and...
DOZING under an apple tree in his Lincolnshire garden during summer in 1666, Isaac Newton was jolted awake when a falling apple struck his head. Momentarily losing his composure, Newton said to no one in particular, “I think I’ll discover gravity!” Thus was born...
MAJOR Charles McMoran Wilson MC (later Lord Moran) was a multi-decorated World War I British Army medical officer who served in France with an infantry battalion, and later a base hospital. After his return to the UK in 1919 he read in The Times of a Royal...
CARELESS commentators lacking the ruthless scrutiny of a sub-editor’s pencil are wont to describe mass casualty ADF incidents as the “worst peacetime military accident ..since…” Townsville has tragic connections with three of the worst Australian Defence Force...
The appointment of former Labor defence minister Stephen Smith and former CDF Angus Houston to conduct of a strategic review of the Australian Defence Force does not inspire confidence among those Australians with recent memories of senior defence administration. If...
CHARLES McMoran Wilson enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps as a 32- year-old specialist physician on the declaration of war in August 1914. As 1Bn Royal Fusiliers RMO until 1917, then senior medical officer at a large hospital at Boulogne, France he was...
Up here we are pretty chuffed the Member for Herbert, Phillip Thompson, a returned veteran in the old definition of that word, is the Opposition’s assistant spokesman for defence. He knows the region is not a given for either side of politics, has worked hard to...
THE die is cast and Australia has a Labor government committed, in opposition at least, to making defence and veterans a priority. It’s early days yet, but there are growing concerns in the wider defence community as to government priorities and appointees’...
JUST when you thought it was safe to leave the bunker, someone called an election. This column tries to focus on defence, though Australia’s future defence is critically dependent on who controls the treasury benches come June. Whoever has their hands on...