General Sir Brudenell White - Anzac Centenary Victorian Government
Transcription
General Sir Brudenell White - Anzac Centenary Victorian Government
General Sir Brudenell White Mark Derham Cyril Brudenell Bingham White (1876–1940), known as Brudenell, is simultaneously one of the most important and yet unknown figures in Australian military history. In a military career spanning more than a quarter of a century Brudenell established a professional record that was, at that time, unequalled and became widely regarded in Australian and British military and political circles as one of Australia’s greatest soldiers and one of the founders of the Australian Imperial Force. Cyril Brudenell Bingham White KCB KCMG KCVO DSO G e n e r a l S ir B r u d e n e l l Wh ite 27 Brudenell was born at St Arnaud, Victoria, on 23 September 1876. He was the seventh of eight children of John Warren White, stock agent and retired army officer, and Maria (Mysie) Gibton. His paternal grandparents were Thomas Warren White (Barrister-at-Law and at one time Crown Prosecutor for County Leitrim1) and Elizabeth Persse of Roxborough, County Galway, Ireland, and one of his aunts was ‘The Amma’, Maria Lucinda Beggs (née White). John Warren White (1828–1918) had been an officer in the Rifle Brigade and served in Canada before resigning and migrating to Australia in 1850, arriving in the SS Lightning. At this time Ireland was still suffering from the consequences of the Potato Famine and there seemed to be little hope for the future. John Warren White, like many of his countrymen, decided to leave Ireland and seek his fortune in a foreign land. His decision to come to Australia was possibly made easier by the fact that his sister Maria Lucinda and her husband had already emigrated to the Colony of Victoria where gold was soon to be discovered. John Warren White had only been in Victoria for a short time when he found himself travelling to Ballarat with elements of the 40th Regiment. The exact reason why he was with the 40th Regiment is unclear. In The Silence Ruse, Brudenell’s daughter Rosemary Derham speculates that it may have been due to either a call for officers or at the invitation of a friend.2 Riots had occurred on the gold fields as a result of the introduction of a new mining licensing system, which angered the miners. Disenchanted miners, chartists and radicals established the Ballarat Reform League to voice miners’ grievances and press for Parliamentary reform. The Governor, Sir Charles Hotham, decided to restore order on the goldfields and despatched elements of the 12th and 40th Regiments, along with detachments from HMS Electra and HMS Fantome. On Sunday, 3 December 1854, the military and police made a surprise attack on the miners who were barricaded in the Eureka Stockade, which resulted in the deaths of thirty defenders and the removal of the Southern Cross flag. John White’s exact role in this attack is unknown but in view of his military background it is likely that he took an active part in the attack on the stockade.3 The following year John White travelled to Eurambeen, in Western Victoria, to stay with his sister Maria Lucinda and her husband Francis Beggs. The Beggs family had immigrated to Australia in 1849 in the hope of making sufficient money to retire in Ireland. They began sheep farming at Geelong and later moved to Eurambeen. John White may have had similar intentions of 1 Burke’s Irish Family Records, Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd (ed), (London, UK, Burke’s Peerage Ltd, 1976), page 805. 2 Derham, The Silence Ruse, p. 119. 3 Bentley, Champion of Anzac, chapter 2. 28 General Si r Brudenel l W hi t e returning to Ireland but for now he was content to work for his brother-in-law and learn all he could about sheep, cattle and crops.4 It was at Eurambeen that he met Mysie (Maria) Gibton. Maria (Mysie) Gibton was a daughter of Robert Nassau Gibton of Tallaght, County Dublin, who with his family arrived in Melbourne on the Afric in 1857. Mysie’s mother had died in 1850 and her father had decided to leave Dublin and take his three daughters and two sons to the colonies. Unfortunately for the family Robert Gibton became ill during the voyage and died a month later in the family’s Collingwood home.5 Mysie Gibton’s uncle had married Adelaide White, the sister of John White and Maria Lucinda White. It was through this family connection in Ireland that Mysie Gibton was able to secure the position of governess to the Beggs family, first in Geelong and later at Eurambeen.6 Mysie Gibton’s personality and nature proved to be the ideal complement to that of the tall, proud, fiery and aristocratic John White, six feet three in his socks. She was slender and petite, about five-feet-four. Her diminutive stature belied her strength of character and endurance. She was sympathetic, compassionate and gentle. Being a deeply religious woman she disliked overt displays of aggression. During her life she endured many hardships, but she never lost her sense of proportion or dignity and always ensured her family maintained the standards and level of behaviour appropriate to their class, position and ancestry. John Warren White and Mysie Gibton were married on 13 June 1860 at St Stephen’s Church, Richmond. During the next few years the Whites travelled around the Wimmera and Mallee regions of north-western Victoria. This was a region of extremes, blazing hot summers and freezing winters. They eventually found themselves at Lake Hindmarsh where they settled for a period of three years. During this time they endured makeshift housing, poor seasons and for at least two years of their stay they found themselves faced with severe drought. At one stage John White rode four miles each day to obtain water sufficient for their daily needs. In the years between 1865 and 1876 the White family lived an almost nomadic life moving across northwest Victoria. In 1876 the White family settled in St Arnaud. The area around St Arnaud was reasonably benign and was rich with tree-shaded, crystal-clear streams. This was a sharp contrast to the desolate, dry and burning expanse of the Mallee to Brudenell’s father, John Warren White. Brudenell’s mother, Mysie White (née Gibton). 4 John White earned a small income from his estates in County Clare. In 1876 he arranged a mortgage on these estates and continued to receive a small income. In 1912 the Bank of Victoria arranged the sale of the estates to the tenants.. 5Derham, The Silence Ruse, p. 119. 6 Ibid, p. 120. G e n e r a l S ir B r u d e n e l l Wh ite 29 the north-west. In 1876 St Arnaud was a busy, bustling place. The County of Kara Kara – with St Arnaud as its centre – was being opened up. It was a steady gold producer and gaining recognition as fine for growing wheat.7 On 23 September Mysie White gave birth to Brudenell, her seventh child. The members of the family at this time were Maud Letitia, John Warren, Dudley Persse, Katherine Gertrude, and Mabel Elizabeth. Some eighteen months later, Eustace Robert Nassau was born. In a short article for the Royal Historical Society of Queensland, Norman Pixley mentions only seven children.8 This discrepancy is possibly due to the death of a third child, Elizabeth, who died some years before. Elizabeth was born after John Warren on 25 January 1865 and died at the age of 13 months at Eurambeen.9 The regular moves around Victoria are illustrated by the places of birth of his children recorded in the family bible.10 The early years The four years spent in St Arnaud was a period of relative stability and prosperity. John Warren White had established a business as a grain and wool buyer and had interests in a number of other local businesses including Fry’s Mills and the chaff mills in Queens Avenue. He was also keenly interested in public affairs and was mayor of the town in 1878.11 The Whites were a close and loving family. Mysie had strong religious views and provided religious instruction for her children. Brudenell cared deeply for his siblings, in particular his younger brother, Eustace. Brudenell developed a close bond with Eustace. They never argued, always defended each other and were inseparable. On those few occasions when they were apart their father would ask ‘where’s the other fellow?’12 John Warren White’s businesses in St Arnaud suffered badly in the early 1880s. He decided to move the family to Queensland which was, he had heard, booming. So in 1881 the family moved to Queensland and lived on pastoral stations in the Gympie, Charters Towers and Gladstone areas before settling at Clayfield, Brisbane. Although he was unsuccessful as a pastoralist, in 1885 John became the first president of the Brisbane Stock Exchange. There were some years of prosperity, but by the time Brudenell was 15, the family’s circumstances were again dire. 7 St Arnaud Mercury, 11 July 1925; Ethel White’s scrap book, vol. 2 p. 82. 8 Pixley, ‘John Warren White and Family’, p. 13. 9Derham, The Silence Ruse, p. 121. 10Maude Letitia (Eurambeen, Beaufort, Victoria), John Warren (Tullyrea, Horsham, Victoria), Elizabeth Gibton (Tullyrea, Horsham, Victoria), Dudley Persse (Minnieboro, Glenorchy), Katherine Gertrude (Minnieboro, Glenorchy), Mabel Elizabeth (Maudvale, Glenorchy), Cyril Brudenell Bingham (St Arnaud, Victoria) and Eustace Robert Nassau (St Arnaud, Victoria). 11 St Arnaud Times, 21 February 1921; Ethel White’s scrapbook. 12 Quoted in Bean, Two Men I Knew, p. 80. 30 General Si r Brudenel l W hi t e Brudenell was five when the family moved to Queensland. His keen intelligence was clear from early childhood. He attended the local State School at Clayfield and then went to the Normal School (Teachers’ Training School) at the corner of Edward and Adelaide Streets in Brisbane. By the sacrifice of his brother John (Jack) Warren White, he attended for one year at Major Boyd’s ‘Eton’ School, at Nundah, now a suburb of Brisbane. He left there at 15 with a prize for shorthand. A bank clerk Brudenell had wanted to be a barrister, like his grandfather, but at the age of 16 took a job as a clerk with the Australian Joint Stock Bank, and studied in his spare time. He did not cost his father a penny from that moment. His first salary was £1 per week. As we will see, he was later transferred to Gympie, then Charters Towers where his salary lifted to £120 a year, about one third of which he sent to his mother. His care for his mother was as great as her influence on him. Later he recalled: Just before Christmas my mother broke the news that I was to be a bank clerk. It nearly broke my heart, because I wanted to be a barrister like my grandfather … my mother simply went to an old friend of the family, John Palmer Abbott __ he was an inspector of the Union Bank … and said: ‘You’ve got to take Brudenell into your bank’ … and he very gravely and courteously replied: ‘very well Mrs White, if those are your orders!’13 Brudenell was determined to continue his education as far as possible and become a barrister like his grandfather. Each day he devoted a period of time both before and after work to furthering his studies. He would rise at 6 am and undertake his studies until 8 am at which time he rode from his home in Clayfield to the bank in Brisbane. Each evening he would return, sometimes very late if he had to work back, and then at 9 pm he would continue his studies until midnight, reading everything that he could lay his hands on. Major Boyd, his former headmaster, suggested many books and subjects to broaden Brudenell’s knowledge, and generally guided him in his studies. He maintained this lifestyle diligently over the next three years. Brudenell developed a quiet, gentle, courteous and unassuming nature. He was often embarrassed by outward displays of aggression; even his father’s fiery temper occasionally caused embarrassment. In later years he wrote: To be gentle, thoughtful and kindly are virtues that you have, and which will take you farther and make the journey easier than anything that is assumed or cultivated.14 13 White reported in the Melbourne Herald, 16 March 1940; op. cit Bentley, Champion of Anzac, Ch 2. 14 Letter to his daughter Rosemary, 1934, quoted in Derham, The Silence Ruse, p. 126. G e n e r a l S ir B r u d e n e l l Wh ite 31 Brudenell’s devotion to his mother had also imbued him with a deep respect and admiration for women. At one point in his childhood some nuns provided his educational instruction. Brudenell admired their kind nature and devotion to duty and developed a great respect for them.15 Much later he spoke publicly of the influence of women on men, and in a way that must have reflected his own upbringing, saying that: ...again and again one sees a whole household of men ruled by a small woman, whose only weapons are understanding, a quiet determination, and, perhaps, occasionally a few judicious tears ... If a woman’s children are born early in married life she comes to regard her husband much in the nature of a grown-up child – someone to be understood, humoured and firmly dealt with. The maternal instinct comes to embrace all her affections as time goes on, and although there may be emotional moments when she is more a woman than a mother it is that maternal instinct - to care, to look after and to protect – which will create the most binding ties... Woman in her maturity is conscious of many discrepancies in man to which she never gives utterance, and many lovable qualities that, with due diplomacy, may be trained in the way they ought to go. And she continues to rule through her influence – in other words, her inborn subtlety, her rod of tears and her feminine instinct, knowing that her whole strength lies in her apparent weakness.16 His self-effacing, easy-going nature was underpinned by a set of strong and unwavering Christian values. These teachings provided him with a tremendous self-discipline and a resolute sense of duty and honour that shaped his ideals and attitudes throughout his life. Brudenell also became imbued with his mother’s strength of character and determination. These facets of his character and his ideals were explicitly expressed in his early diary entries: Mottos for 1895 Have life ___ see everything Never tell a lie Have your own opinion Never drink or swear Guard against immorality Be straightforward and not afraid of anyone Be determined, if you say a thing do it Do all work well.17 15 Derham, The Silence Ruse, p. 126. 16 Unattributed press report, about 1934, Ethel White’s scrap book, vol. 2, p. 72. 17 Diary Entry, 1 January 1895, White Papers, AWM, 3DRL6549, item 1; Derham The Silence Ruse, p. 129; Bentley, Champion of Anzac, chapter 2. 32 General Si r Brudenel l W hi t e While working in Brisbane, Brudenell received his first taste of military life. Richard Dowse, an older colleague and friend of Brudenell’s, was an enthusiastic volunteer soldier. Dowse was originally from England and his eagerness resulted in a rapid rise through the ranks. At the time he met Brudenell he was adjutant of the Queensland Volunteer Rifles. Dowse asked Brudenell to accompany him on a military camp. Brudenell enjoyed the camp and retained fond memories of it. However, he did not at this stage consider taking up a military career.18 In 1895 Brudenell was transferred to the Bank branch at Gympie. This provided him with a significant financial remuneration by increasing his salary from £52 to £120 per annum, and allowed him to send a third of his weekly income to his mother, engage the local schoolmaster as a tutor so that he could continue his studies, and pay for his upkeep. Brudenell was still determined to become a barrister and with the realisation that this would require a significant capital outlay he began to set aside a small weekly sum.19 Brudenell White, aged about 18. Military service begins At Gympie Brudenell made friends with Thomas William Glasgow (later Major-General Sir William Glasgow) who worked at the Queensland National Bank. Brudenell wrote: … a young chap named Bill Glasgow was a clerk in the Joint Stock Bank in Gympie … I was there for the Union – and we had no clearing house. I had to deliver the cheques around the town which was all up hill and down. So Bill and I hit on a plan whereby one day he would take all the uphill deliveries and the next day it would be my turn. It was he who aroused my interest in the Militia and we became trainees together in the Wide Bay Regiment.20 While Glasgow may have aroused Brudenell’s dormant interest in the militia, his provisional commission was due to the efforts of C B Steele, a local mining surveyor and a friend, who also happened to be the local commander of the Wide Bay Regiment. Brudenell was provisionally commissioned into the 2nd Queensland (Wide Bay and Burnett) Regiment on 7 October 1896. 18 Bean, Two Men I Knew, p. 82. 19 Ibid., p. 81. 20 White reported in the Melbourne Herald, 16 March 1940. G e n e r a l S ir B r u d e n e l l Wh ite 33 Late in 1897 the opportunity arose for Brudenell to attempt the officers’ appointment examination for the Queensland Defence Forces. The examination that Brudenell was now preparing to sit normally required twelve months of intensive study. He did not have this time and had to accomplish all the required study in six weeks. He obtained leave from the Bank and set about preparing for the examinations. His old headmaster, Major Boyd, and Major John Byron, who was at the time acting Commander of the Queensland Permanent Artillery, coached him. One week before the examination Brudenell began to have doubts and told his mother, ‘I cannot do the work ___ there just is not the time’. ‘Try for my sake’, she replied, ‘I feel sure you’ll succeed’.21 Brudenell attempted the examination and passed, 3rd overall, and 2nd highest for lieutenants, with a score of 77%.22 Brudenell visited his family for a brief period at Christmas 1897. On 25 February 1898 he left to return to Gympie and then went on to Gladstone. His brother Eustace went to the railway station with him. This would be the last time that they would see each other. In April Brudenell was transferred to Charters Towers and it was here, in December, that he received news of his brother’s death. He recorded in his diary: At 12.50 on 14 December 1898 I received a wire from Dudley saying that he had received word that Eust was killed on Merivale Station, Mitchell, on the morning of Dec.13th by a fall from a horse; the poor dear little chap broke his neck, how little I thought when I casually said Goodbye to him on 27 December 1897 that it would be goodbye forever. Oh for the touch of a vanished hand Or the sound of a voice that is still’.23 This was a considerable blow for Brudenell and he was deeply saddened by the news. He would often remember his brother in the years to come and wore a small silver ring, which his brother had given him, on the little finger of his left hand. Brudenell had recently applied for leave from the bank so that he could attempt to join the Queensland Permanent Artillery. The day after he heard of his brother’s death he received news that his leave had been granted. He left Charters Towers on 18 December 1898 and travelled to Brisbane first by train 21 Quoted in Bean, Two Men I Knew, p. 82; cf. Derham, Silent Ruse, p. 131. 22 Diary Entry, 12 December 1897, White Papers, AWM, 3DRL6549, item 3. 23 Diary Entry, 14 December 1898, White Papers, AWM, 3DRL6549, item 3; Bentley, Champion of Anzac, Ch. 2, p. 64; The last two lines are from Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892), Break, Break, Break, a lyric poem completed about 1834, which centres on his grief over the death of his best friend, Arthur Hallam. 34 General Si r Brudenel l W hi t e to Townsville and then by steamer. Captain Victor Sellheim, who would later achieve prominence in the AIF, accompanied him to Brisbane.24 Brudenell’s father and brother Jack were waiting at the dock when he arrived in Brisbane on 22 December 1898. It was a sad Christmas for the White family – every member of the family was deeply saddened by the loss of Eustace. Mysie White made special arrangements for his body to be collected from Merivale Station and returned to the family. On 9 February 1899 Eustace White was buried at Toowong Cemetery.25 After Christmas Brudenell visited Major Byron, who was temporarily commanding the Queensland Permanent Artillery. Byron informed Brudenell that on 23 January 1899 an examination would be held for appointment to the Permanent Staff. Brudenell decided to attempt the examination and on 27 January 1899 received a letter from Byron requesting that he report for duty the next day. Brudenell achieved the necessary score for an appointment to the Permanent Staff, although he needed to improve his French. On 7 June 1899 Brudenell was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Queensland regiment of the Royal Australian Artillery. In August, while he was waiting for his first posting, his sister Mabel was married to Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Hutchison at St John’s in Brisbane. In November Brudenell gained his first intimation of his destination. ‘The Major’, Brudenell wrote in his diary, ‘told me I would probably spend Christmas on Thursday Island’.26 Brudenell’s appointment to the permanent staff marked a new chapter in his life. During these formative years Brudenell’s family had taught him the importance of service, hard work and good manners and like many members of his social class he displayed an excessive politeness that would be a fondly remembered trait in later years. When he became chairman of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency in July 1928 Brudenell was responsible for approving loans and those whom he rejected often left smiling.27 ‘I’ve come out empty-handed’, said one, ‘but I couldn’t be disappointed. It rather made me feel foolish to have asked him’.28 Another applicant said, ‘I never had “No” said to me so nicely’.29 Brudenell has been mostly presented, particularly by Charles Bean, as modest, unassuming and without marked aggression or ambition. However, at an early age he confessed in his diary to certain ambitions. Like many idealistic young men he dreamed of making a mark upon the world and of being a 24 Diary Entry, 22 December 1898, White Papers, AWM, 3DRL6549, item 3; Bentley, Champion of Anzac, Ch. 2, p. 65. 25 Diary Entry, 9 February 1899. 26 Diary Entry, 11 November 1899. 27 Diary Entry, 1 July 1928, 28 Bean, Two Men I Knew, p. 200. 29 Ibid. G e n e r a l S ir B r u d e n e l l Wh ite 35 person of some importance, if not greatness. On his twenty-fourth birthday Brudenell wrote in his diary: In the ambitious dreams of my boyhood I had pictured myself as a person who would be of great importance at that age and I’m a somewhat insignificant and more or less dull subaltern of Austn [sic] Artillery. ‘Oh fate hast thou any prizes in store for me – something to preserve me from the stale, flat and unprofitable plane of mediocrity…30 He was, despite the serious tone of his diary entries, of entirely normal humour and temperament. Much later he told of a happening when at Gympie in about 1895 or 1896. The son of the Manager of the Bank Branch (in which Brudenell worked) lived with his parents on the Bank premises. One bank halfholiday, the boy, having been presented with several large sheets of coloured figures representing the soldiers of the British Army, got into the bank proper and, borrowing a pot of glue and a nice big handy book, proceeded to paste the paper soldiers very neatly up and down the columns. When Brudenell came to work the next day he found his ledger recording the business of half Gympie’s prominent citizens nicely decorated with the life guards, hussars, dragoons and various other colourful soldiery. ‘There’s no doubt about the British Soldier’, said Brudenell before proceeding to make out an entirely new ledger, ‘He certainly sticks to the job’. His intervention saved the boy a hiding.31 In 1900–01, Brudenell performed garrison duty on Thursday Island. With the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901, he became a founding member of the new Australian Military Forces. On 18 February 1902 he embarked for service in South Africa with the 1st Battalion, Australian Commonwealth Horse. The unit engaged in minor operations in the western Transvaal and Bechuanaland; hostilities ended in June and Brudenell wrote: ‘I would have liked to see a little fighting’. Sailing for Australia next month in the poorly equipped Drayton Grange, he went among a group of mutinous soldiers, who threatened to ‘toss him in a blanket’, but he placated them. In 1903 Brudenell attended a gunnery course at the School of Artillery in Sydney. It was a long and arduous course, he worked hard, and when the results were announced he finished at the top of the course with a score of 90%. A staff officer and marriage In January 1904 he was detached from his duties with the artillery in Victoria and appointed aide-de-camp to Major General Sir Edward Hutton, general officer commanding the Australian Military Forces (AMF). His 30 Diary Entry, 23 September 1900. 31 Reported in the press (probably the Courier-Mail, Brisbane, circa 21 March 1940); Ethel White’s scrap book, volume2, p.98. 36 General Si r Brudenel l W hi t e one-year association with Hutton, during which the two formed a lasting friendship, marked the beginning of Brudenell’s formative years as a staff officer.32 Promoted temporary captain, he travelled extensively with the G.O.C. and learned much about the state and organisation of the infant Australian Army. Hutton recommended that he attend the Staff College at Camberley, and supported his application. After General Hutton returned to England in late 1904, Brudenell returned to Army Headquarters in Melbourne. In 1905 he continued his studies so that his educational qualifications would be adequate to satisfy the Minister if he were to be appointed to the Staff College. He also studied French and mathematics. In June 1905 there were military examinations for him in Melbourne. When the results were published in July he received 80% in three subjects and 100% for his tactics paper.33 The Military Board that was established on the departure of General Hutton took some time to consider, and ultimately approve, his attendance at the Staff College at Camberley in England. Meanwhile, on 15 November 1905 at Christ Church, South Yarra, Brudenell married Ethel Davidson, the eldest of nine children of Walter Henry Davidson and Clamina Beggs of Allanvale near Stawell, and later of Coliban Park, near Kyneton, Victoria. Ethel was born in Toorak on 14 November 1878. At the time of her birth, Walter Henry Davidson was managing Alice Downs, near Blackall in Western Queensland. Some seven years later, Walter Henry sold out his interest in Alice Downs and bought Coliban Park, in the Castlemaine district, where the family lived for the next 31 years. At about the time he was preparing for his wedding, the Military Board finally approved Brudenell’s attendance at the Camberley Staff College, and he became the first AMF officer to attend. In late November, after a short honeymoon, he and Ethel boarded the new P&O ship Marmora and began their five-week journey to England. He began the course at Camberley with relatively little regimental experience and limited active service. That he graduated well up in his class- Brudenell White, November 1904. 32 General Hutton gave Brudenell several beautifully bound books as a parting present. These included the complete works of Shakespeare and two books by Samuel Smiles LL D, On Character and Self-Help! 33 Derham, The Silence Ruse, p. 173. G e n e r a l S ir B r u d e n e l l Wh ite 37 Brudenell and Ethel’s wedding party, 15 November 1905: Lieutenant Long-Innes, Beatrice Davidson, Ethel and Brudenell White, Ruth Quick and Major Balmain. list was testimony to his ability and capacity for hard work, traits which increasingly brought him to the notice of his superiors. Brudenell spent two years at Camberley (1906–7). Their first child, Margaret Clamina Brudenell, was born there on 23 March 1907. Two of Brudenell’s fellow students at Camberley were afterwards famous in the AIF, Duncan Glasfurd, a Scottish officer, and John Gellibrand, a Tasmanian officer of the British Army, and later an outstanding leader.34 During Brudenell’s second year in the Staff College its commandant was Brigadier-General Henry Wilson, who was to become Chief of the Imperial General Staff for the last year of World War I. Brudenell was one of his best pupils. ‘If there are any more like you in Australia, young man,’ Wilson once said to him, ‘send them over here – we can do with them’.35 Brudenell was practically born on a horse. Horses had always been a part of his life and riding was his only known sporting recreation. Ethel provides some idea of Brudenell’s experiences during this period at the Staff College: Brudenell used to bicycle to the College for lectures, also all round the country, mapping out the district and working out all the military schemes that the training involved … It was expected of officers at the Staff College that they should ride in the drag-hunt during the Winter months of the hunting seasons. Brudenell had to keep a horse and a part34 Bean, Two Men I Knew, p 84. 35 Ibid.. 38 General Si r Brudenel l W hi t e time groom. The horse was stabled somewhere in the village … the Australian Government I think allowed him part of the upkeep. It was only a mediocre hunter, but being a good rider, this was soon recognised by his brother officers at the College and he was often lent good horses and also some that their owners, not being good riders, wanted him to try out for them … He only had one fall during the two seasons, his horse fell but he was not hurt. I was very nervous while he was out and was thankful to see him come home unhurt.36 British officers generally placed great faith on a man’s riding ability and it was frequently regarded as a test of character. Even Brudenell believed that: … he could tell clearly as noonday the determination of a man by watching him at the hunt. There was the man who set his jaw and went for it – who, if he had a good horse always led. Always behind him there would be a man who went where that man went; rode close behind him over the fences; took the jumps where he took them. The front of the field would consist of these leaders, each with a small bunch of followers – both sorts on the best horses. Then a gap. Next came a similar lot of leaders, determined to go on, but on poorer horses. After them was a similar attendance of men hanging on to them – also on second-rate horses. Then another gap. Lastly a third bunch who were not in the hunt for the love of it at all, but because it was the thing to do.37 Brudenell with his dog Puck at Geraghmeen, Camberley. The view of some of his British superiors was that an officer of Brudenell’s quality would be wasted in the comparatively small Australian service; and, while he and his wife and baby were on their way back to Melbourne, an enquiry was sent from the War Office to the Defence Department in Melbourne saying that if Australian ministers agreed it would appoint him as General Staff Officer, third grade, at headquarters, with a Colonelcy pay of £500 per annum. There were, however, some difficulties with this proposal. First, Brudenell was a young officer and could not, with fairness to others, be 36 Ethel White’s memories quoted in Derham, The Silence Ruse, pp. 191–2. 37 Quoted in Bean, Two Men I Knew, pp. 84–5. G e n e r a l S ir B r u d e n e l l Wh ite 39 so quickly raised in rank in Australia; and secondly Colonel William Bridges, Chief of Intelligence, under whom on arrival Brudenell was placed, insisted that he could not be spared unless the War Office would first send a General Staff Officer to Melbourne to replace him. The War Office agreed. On his return to Australia, Brudenell was promoted Captain and, after some months as Director of Military Operations under Bridges, he returned to England on a four-year appointment.38 He and Ethel and little Margaret left for England aboard the P&O Steamer India. The Westminster Gazette noted their arrival thus: Captain C.B. White of the Royal Australian Artillery, who is a passenger by the incoming mail steamer from Melbourne, may be pardoned if he feels just a little proud. For some time past the Imperial War Office and the Commonwealth Military Department have been struggling for his services, and the former has triumphed to the extent of securing him for the next three years. The Captain served in South Africa, and afterwards came to England for a course of training in the Staff College, where his abilities were so marked that he was offered a tempting appointment to remain here. But Mr Deakin’s government strongly objected to this piece of activity on the part of Mr Haldane’s Department. After much correspondence, however, Mr Deakin has consented to lend Captain White to England for three years, and Mr Haldane is sending out Captain Wilson to replace him for that period in Australia.39 The service on which he now entered was largely that of training and lecturing to British regular divisions in Great Britain and Ireland.40 His posting was to the Directorate of Military Operations at the War Office. Staff officers within the Directorate were busy reorganising the Territorial Force, which had been in existence for only a few short months, into regionally-based divisional formations. On his first day Brudenell began helping with this task and as a consequence gained considerable experience in the planning and organisation of divisional forces as well as knowledge of citizen forces.41 Along with the reorganisation of the Territorial Force Brudenell had to undertake the usual round of military duties. He visited various military establishments and took part in various staff rides (these were tactical exercises without troops used for training staff officers). His attachment to the War Office gave him experience in handling large forces and developed 38 In The Age, 12 May 1908, it was noted that the salary offered was nearly double that which he received from the Commonwealth. 39 The Westminster Gazette, Friday 30 October 1908; Ethel White’s scrap book, vol. 2, p. 131. 40 Bean, Two Men I Knew, p 85. 41White wrote a number of reports on the reorganisation of the Territorial Force. NAA, MP 84/1, file 1894/6/104; Dr JohnBentley, A Book Proposal, General White and the Making of an Army, 2005. 40 General Si r Brudenel l W hi t e his skills in planning and administration; it also introduced him to officers with whom he would later work. He met with many influential men, such as Viscount Haldane, Sir John French, Sir Ian Hamilton and Colonel Dobell (a Canadian) who later became General Sir Charles Dobell during the First World War. It also deepened his commitment to the British Empire. The need for trained officers in Australia led to his early recall, in August 1911, and to his appointment on 1 January 1912 as Director of Military Operations at Army Headquarters, Melbourne. This position was the chief assistant to the Chief of the General Staff, Brigadier-General Joseph Gordon. Brudenell had been promoted to Major the previous year. He bought a house at Avoca Street, South Yarra, called Alton, where he, Ethel, and their young family of Margaret Clamina, James Edward Brudenell (b. 22 April 1910) and Patrick Fitzmaurice Brudenell (b. 18 February 1914) lived until shortly before he left for the War. In December 1914, Ethel and the children went to Eurambeen to live with Theodore Beggs (Ethel’s uncle Tedo and Brudenell’s first-cousin). Tedo was living alone as his mother, the Amma (Maria Lucinda Beggs), had died in July 1914, and he welcomed the idea of his niece coming to keep house for him. Captain Brudenell White (second from left), after returning to Australia, on an Easter encampment, 25 April 1908, with Inspector Generals and Headquarters staff in South Australia. Planning for War In his new post Brudenell was responsible for developing strategic policy and administering the military system recently formulated by Colonel Legge and Lord Kitchener. Brudenell maintained and updated Bridges’s mobilisation plans for home defence and supported the concept of a citizen force. Although pleased by the depth of Imperial sentiment among politicians, especially in the Labor Party, he was frustrated by the refusal of successive defence ministers to allow contingency planning for war between Britain and Germany. This was because the scheme which the government had charged Bridges with devising was totally lacking in one crucial provision. Not by Bridges’s wish but by the Government’s deliberate policy, the provisional arrangements were strictly limited to the defence of Australia within her own territory. Although the possibility of war between Britain and Germany was vaguely apprehended by many Australians, it was very present in the consciousness of the staffs on whom the task of defending Australia hinged. G e n e r a l S ir B r u d e n e l l Wh ite 41 Brudenell was aware that a force might have to be sent away at very short notice. The realisation that it would have to be hastily improvised and sent to face a highly organised and trained opponent without a thought having been previously given to its needs in arms, ammunition, training, transport, medical arrangements, staff, command, or any other essential – such thought had indeed been expressly forbidden – was almost intolerable. Brudenell asked again and again. He begged Millen, when he was Minister for Defence, to let him work out such a scheme. He asked Pearce, who was Minister for Defence from June 1910 to June 1913. In November 1912, however, Pearce approved talks with New Zealand representatives on common action to be taken if either country were attacked. At a meeting between Major General Alexander Godley, the New Zealand Chief of the General Staff, and the Australian chief, Brigadier General Joseph Maria Gordon, the potential for a war between European powers was discussed. They recommended the General Staffs of Australia and New Zealand begin detailed planning for the organisation of a composite division of 18 000 men. Australia would supply two-thirds of this composite force. Pearce gave the responsibility for the planning and organisation to Brudenell, who was ordered to draw up plans and to keep the notes and details of the proposed expeditionary force strictly to himself. Brudenell compiled specifications for raising, equipping, training and despatching the Australian portion of such a force. War and the mobilisation of the AIF By late June 1914, the Chief of the General Staff, Brigadier-General Gordon, had retired. His successor, Colonel Legge, was en route from England. Bridges was on an inspection tour in Queensland. Brudenell was made acting Chief of the General Staff, pending Colonel Legge’s return. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria took place on 28 June. Brudenell’s war began on 30 July 1914 with a message from the Commander of the Australian Naval Squadron, Rear Admiral Sir George Patey, who had just decoded a communiqué from the Imperial Government warning of the imminence of war. This message, a pre-arranged signal agreed to by the Australian Government at the 1907 Imperial Conference, advised the Government to begin preliminary mobilisation. The message had also been sent to the Minister for Defence, Senator Edward Millen, but had been incorrectly decoded to read ‘Adoption precautionary stage’. As a consequence, Millen believed it was an answer to an inquiry and disregarded it.42 On that day, it should be added, the chief interest of the Australian Government was the forthcoming federal election, which was called as a result of a double dissolution of the House of Representatives and the Senate. 42 Bentley, Champion of Anzac, p.142. 42 General Si r Brudenel l W hi t e On 1 August Brudenell met with Millen and urged him to authorise the preliminary mobilisation that had been recommended in the communiqué from London on 30 July. Millen was reluctant to act without conferring with the Prime Minister, Joseph Cook. This meeting left Brudenell feeling frustrated and he decided to talk to the Attorney General, Sir William Irvine, in the hope that he could enlist his aid. Brudenell indicated that Australia was probably the only part of the Empire where preliminary mobilisation had not yet been adopted. On 2 August, on Irvine’s advice, Millen agreed to sanction precautions for the defence of Australia and to rely on Cook to confirm his action later.43 The Federal Executive Council assembled in Melbourne on 3 August to discuss the current crisis and what aid should be given to Britain.44 Although a sizeable military force existed within Australia, the Defence Act 1903 forbade the government from despatching its forces outside Australia. The Prime Minister asked if any contingency plans existed for sending Australian troops overseas. Brudenell explained that a cooperative study undertaken with New Zealand had proposed a composite Australian and New Zealand infantry division. Under this proposal Australia was to supply two-thirds of the force, which was approximately 12 000 men. New Zealand would supply the remainder of the force. Brudenell ventured to suggest that a contingent of this size could be ready for embarkation in six weeks.45 Cook asked why Australia’s contribution had been limited to 12 000 men. After some consideration Brudenell advised that when compared with Australia’s contribution to the recent South African War, Australia’s resources could easily maintain a commitment of 12 000 men.46 There had been reports, albeit false, that Canada had offered Britain 30 000 men. Cook was eager to ensure that Australia made a comparable offer. Cook thought that an appropriate contribution would therefore be 20 000 men.47 The Federal Council asked Brudenell whether or not it was feasible for Australia to raise a divisional formation of 20 000 men, and what time frame was required in order to have the division ready for embarkation. Brudenell responded by pointing out that his study had been restricted to 12 000 men. At that time Australia had not attempted to organise a divisional formation, but Brudenell believed the task could be accomplished in approximately six weeks.48 43 Bean, Two Men I Knew, pp. 91–2. 44 Sydney Morning Herald, 4 August 1914; Bentley, Champion of Anzac, p. 144. 45 ‘Origin of the AIF’, Answer by Brudenell White to C.E.W. Bean, 1 October 1919, Bean Papers, Australian War Memorial (AWM) 3DRL6673, item 153; Copy also on file National Archives of Australia (NAA), A6006/1, file 1914/8/23; Bentley, Champion of Anzac, ch 6, p 144. 46 Ibid. 47 Scott, Australia During the War, p. 11. 48 ‘Origin of the AIF’, Answer by Brudenell White to C.E.W. Bean, 1 October 1919, Bean Papers, Australian War Memorial (AWM) 3DRL6673, item 153. G e n e r a l S ir B r u d e n e l l Wh ite 43 Brudenell was asked to draft a telegram to the British Government and this was sent immediately without any changes. It stated: In the event of war the Government [of Australia] is prepared to place the vessels of the Australian Navy under the control of the British Admiralty when desired. It is further prepared to despatch an expeditionary force of 20,000 men of any suggested composition to any destination desired by the Home Government, the Force to be at the complete disposal of the Home Government. The cost of despatch and maintenance will be borne by this [i.e. the Australian] Government.49 During a press conference held after this meeting, Millen stated that the Australian contingent would not be drawn from the Australian Military Forces. He pointed out that the Defence Act specifically stated ‘members of the defence forces … shall not be required, unless they voluntarily agree to do so, to serve beyond the limits of the Commonwealth, and those of any territory under the authority of the Commonwealth’.50 In the absence of Bridges and Legge it fell to Brudenell to work on the organisational plans. His diaries indicate that he worked day and night during the raising of the force.51 At 9:00 am (Australian Eastern Standard Time) on 5 August 1914 Australia found itself in a state of war with Germany.52 Bridges arrived in Melbourne that day and at 1:00 pm held his first meeting with Millen. Bridges advised Millen to appoint a General Officer Commanding (GOC) to command the force and recommended Major-General Sir Edward Hutton for the position. Millen listened but did not commit himself to a decision. Instead he asked Bridges to acquaint himself with the draft plans that Brudenell had formulated. Bridges met with Millen again the following day and during the discussions again proposed that Hutton be appointed as GOC. Millen vetoed the proposal to appoint Hutton and instead gave Bridges a memorandum requesting that Bridges himself organise the Australian expeditionary force.53 One of the first steps that Bridges took was to appoint Brudenell as his Chief of Staff. Indeed it might be said the Brudenell chose himself, for it was his pre-war contingency plan that provided the basis for the Australian Imperial Force. The mobilisation plans were his and his alone, kept secret by him. Bridges and Brudenell worked closely to create the force and to establish administrative arrangements to preserve its separate identity within 49 see Bean, Official History, vol. 1, pp. 289; and Bentley, Champion of Anzac, Ch 6 p 144–5. 50 Sydney Morning Herald, 4 August 1914; Bentley, Champion of Anzac, Ch 6 p 144–5. 51 Diary Entries, August–October 1914, White Papers, AWM, 3DRL6549, item 22; Bentley, Champion of Anzac, p 144–5. 52 The British Declaration of War was made at 2300 hours Zulu (Greenwich Meantime) on 4 August 1914. 53 Bean, Official History, vol. 1, pp. 28, 32; See also Verney, The Army High Command, p. 233; CoulthardClark, A Heritage of Spirit, p. 117; Bentley, Champion of Anzac, p. 144–5. 44 General Si r Brudenel l W hi t e the British Army. At this stage Brudenell’s influence was substantial. He designed the arrangements for the recruiting of the force, designed the structure, and selected key people. In addition he drew up the charter that guided the Australian Imperial Force throughout the rest of the war. These arrangements, structures, and principles became the foundations not only for the organisational culture of the Australian Imperial Force, but also for the Australian military culture that would develop as a consequence.54 An instance of his influence on the selection of key men was given by him many years later. He later recounted:55 Caption Never shall I forget John Gellibrand’s first meeting with General Bridges. On the outbreak of the Great War. Gelly, as a retired British Army captain, volunteered his services in Tasmania, but met some difficulty in obtaining employment. So I obtained the permission of Bridges to send for him. I told him to come at once. I think he took it too literally. He arrived a few minutes after the boat from Launceston tied up at the wharf wearing the coat in which he had been spraying his apple-trees, and a tie of scarecrow green and he hadn’t bothered to shave. When the General saw him he got the shock of his life, but merely grunted after Gelly had left and said ‘very well, then, put him on!’ And that is how Sir John Gellibrand, the very great soldier, joined the original 1st divisional staff! Brudenell White and staff at the Victoria Barracks, 19 October 1914. Brudenell and Bridges met the Defence Minister almost daily during the initial period and responded to the cables that arrived from the British Government. The British Government cabled its acceptance of the Australian offer on 6 August and requested that the contingent be ‘despatched as soon as possible’.56 This communiqué did not, however, provide an indication of how the Australian contingent was to be organised. In the initial offer to the War Office Brudenell had implicitly recommended that Australia organise its contingent as a divisional formation. Brudenell now cabled the War Office and asked if it wished the Australian contingent to be organised as a division or if they preferred some other composition.57 54 Bentley, Champion of Anzac, Ch. 16. 55 The Herald, Melbourne, 16 March 1940; Ethel White’s scrap book, vol. 2 p. 115b. 56 Bean, Official History, vol. 1, p. 29; Bentley, Champion of Anzac, Ch 6 p 144–5. 57 Bentley, Champion of Anzac, p 144–5. G e n e r a l S ir B r u d e n e l l Wh ite 45 A souvenir of the victory of HMAS Sydney on 9 November 1914. Agreement was reached with the British War Office as to the formation, and Bridges and Brudenell were, on 8 August, able to present Millen with a detailed plan. The revised plan proposed the formation of an Australian infantry division and a light horse brigade.58 The division was the smallest formation to contain units of all arms (infantry, cavalry, artillery and engineers) and to maintain any semblance of national identity. It was the largest formation mentioned on the Australian establishment and Australian military authorities had never before organised or commanded such a large body of troops. Under the 1914 establishment a division consisted of 18 027 men while a light horse brigade (including support units) had 1967, a total of 19 994 men in all, and close to the figure laid down by Cook at the first Cabinet meeting.59 The formations were recruited on a territorial basis, a system retained until the Armistice and the strongest factor making for esprit de corps in the AIF. Enlistment began on 10 August, and within six weeks 20 000 men were clothed, equipped and partially trained. By any standard it was a remarkable achievement.60 The Australian Imperial Force, or AIF as it quickly became known, sailed from Western Australia on 1 November 1914. Bridges and his staff were aboard the Orvieto, a fine Orient liner. The convoy was escorted by four Cruisers of the Australian, British and Japanese navies, including HMAS Sydney. The danger to the convoy was the German cruiser the Emden, engaged in raiding in the Indian Ocean. On 9 November 1914, just after passing the Cocos Islands, she was sighted and the Sydney was despatched to engage with her. The Emden was driven ashore and her crew, including her Captain, von Müller, and Prince Franz Joseph of Hohenzollern, were taken aboard the Orvieto. 58 Mobilisation, AWM25, 495/1, p. 33; Bentley, Champion of Anzac, ‘ p.148. 59 Bentley, Champion of Anzac, ‘ p 148. 60 Pedersen, P A, Monash as Military Commander, Melbourne University Press, 1985, p. 42. 46 General Si r Brudenel l W hi t e Caption Anzac Cove Gallipoli By December the first contingent of the AIF was training in Egypt. With Bridges, Brudenell planned the landing of the 1st Australian Division at Gaba Tepe, while expressing the view that the total force to be used in the assault on Gallipoli was inadequate. In the confusion of the landing on 25 April 1915, he accompanied Bridges on his rapid tour of AIF positions and helped to pull together the disorganised threads of command and communications. He was ‘the perfect complement to Bridges’ until the latter’s death in May. On 30 May 1915, a little more than a month after the landing, Brudenell was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his exceptional efforts as a staff officer and on 27 July he was promoted to full Colonel. Brudenell was twice mentioned in despatches for his work at Gallipoli. He assisted with planning of a number of tactical operations. The most successful of these was the Battle of Lone Pine. G e n e r a l S ir B r u d e n e l l Wh ite Brudenell and Col NR Howse (subsequently VC) in White Gully, August 1915. 47 Brudenell in his bunker at Gallipoli, May 1915. Brudenell (at left) recuperating in Cairo, 12 September 1915. Towards the end of August Brudenell was stricken with dysentery. In a letter to Ethel on 22 August 1915 he confided, ‘The endurance of this soldier is not great.’ But the constant heat and poor hygiene were making many men ill and causing considerable strain for the medical services at Gallipoli. Colonel Howse, the Australian Director of Medical Services, sent Brudenell, and MacLagan who was also ill, to Alexandria to recuperate. Ethel received a 48 General Si r Brudenel l W hi t e Field Marshal Lord Kitchener visits Gallipoli in December 1915 and talks to Sir William Birdwood. Brudenell is behind, on the left. telegram at Eurambeen on 8 September advising her of his admission to the 19th General Hospital, Alexandria, with dysentery.61 By 25 September Brudenell had sufficiently recovered to return to Anzac. He embarked on SS Osmanieh for the journey to Mudros and was in command of 1000 reinforcements. Arriving at Mudros Brudenell was informed that upon arrival at Anzac he was to take up the position as Brigadier General, General Staff.62 Thus, on 1 October 1916, he became BGGS Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, and began his long partnership with Lieutenant-General Sir William Birdwood, who took permanent command of the AIF that month. The occasion for the promotion was Brigadier-General Skeen’s ill health from enteric fever and in consequence his return to base. Brudenell was the logical choice for a position which involved operational duties, the administrative control of the AIF, and issues of policy between the Australian Government and the British Commander of its overseas forces. With Birdwood’s departure to act as Commander-in-Chief of the Dardanelles Army at Imbros in October 1915, Brudenell remained at corps headquarters under General Sir Alexander Godley. There he planned and supervised the evacuation of 80 000 men at Anzac and Suvla Bay, the 61Ethel White’s scrap book, vol. 1, p. 2. 62 Diary Entry, 30 September 1915, White Papers, AWM, 3DRL6549, item 23. G e n e r a l S ir B r u d e n e l l Wh ite 49 most successful operation of the campaign. Put into effect in three stages, his plan lulled the Turks into thinking that a lessening of activity was part of preparations for winter. Indeed the initial stages were implemented well in advance of the decision being taken to evacuate the peninsula. On the night of 19–20 December the last 10 000 men were evacuated, transported to Imbros and thence to Egypt; the withdrawal was accomplished without incident and only two minor casualties. It was probably Brudenell’s greatest tactical achievement. The whole movement was his devising, and he controlled it day and night.63 The German Military Correspondent of the Vossiche Zeitung wrote that ‘So long as wars last, the evacuation of Suvla and Anzac will stand before the eyes of all strategists as a hitherto unattained masterpiece’.64 On Christmas Day 1915 he wrote to Ethel:65 The French Admiral visits ANZAC Cove. France lost an estimated 10 000 men in the Gallipoli campaign. I feel a certain pride in having evolved the plan … more than one general will probably get KCBs for the great feat ... It was on my plan that the operation was carried out in spite of considerable opposition. I want you to know that the work was mine and the plan was mine. General Sir Alexander Godley entertained no doubts about Brudenell’s role in the evacuation. Godley informed Birdwood that: The thoroughness and excellence of the Staff work, which resulted in the success of the operation, were mainly due to the conspicuous ability and hard work of this Officer. He never spared himself in perfecting all the arrangements and I look upon him as a General Staff Officer of exceptional merit.66 Much later Brudenell said of Gallipoli: Not a vain effort was the Gallipoli campaign; indeed no; albeit that in the dead of a December night we ‘folded our tents ... and silently stole away’. Militarily the operation was open to serious criticism, for alas, it took place in extenuating circumstances truly, but at a time when ‘side shows’, those pet whims of minds which see profit by lucky speculation rather than by wise and laborious effort were much to be deprecated. 63Bean, CEW, writing in Reveille, 31 March 1931, Celebrities of the AIF (8): Cyril Brudenell White, the Maker of the AIF. Dr Peter Stanley in Quinn’s Post (at p. 176) doubts that Brudenell was the author of the plan, but his argument appears to overlook Brudenell’s own claim in correspondence to his wife (by a man undoubtedly not prone to public boastfulness) and the evidence presented by Bean in, among other places, Two Men I Knew, pp.106–118, including, in particular, the fact that the silence stunt was commenced on 24 November 1915, apparently before the drawing of any plans by Headquarters. 64Quoted in The Argus Melbourne, 9 April 1932, from the final volume of the Official History of the Gallipoli Campaign by Brigadier-General C.F. Aspinall-Oglander. 65 Derham, The Silence Ruse, p.xi. 66 Godley to Birdwood, 23 December 1915, Appendix, General Staff War Diary, HQ ANZAC, AWM 4/1/25/9, Part 12; Bentley, Champion of Anzac, Ch. 9, p. 247. 50 General Si r Brudenel l W hi t e Imperially and nationally it was a marvellous achievement, for although not designed with so far-seeing an object, it created the nations of Australia and New Zealand, and welded perhaps the strongest link in the chain of Empire.67 Lord Kitchener at Anzac Cove. This notion of the creation of a nation is one that was also advanced by Charles Bean in his introduction to volume 1 of the Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918.68 The sentiment is one Brudenell repeated on his return to Australia in 1919 when he was fêted at every port, city and town on his way home, and called on to speak. In one such speech he said:69 The Australian troops have made two great discoveries in the war, besides the discovery of their own fine qualities. They have developed a national spirit, and they have learned a patriotism that 100 years of living on the soil could not have taught. Two things, I am convinced, would be found uppermost in the minds of all of them, if we could read them. First, that Australia is a nation; and next there is no country in the world like Australia. 67 Readiness to Pursue a High Ideal, Country Life (Magazine), 25 April 1926; Ethel White’s scrap book, vol. 2, p. 2. 68 The Official History of Australia in the War, 1914–1918, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1921, vol. I p.xxviii. 69 Daily Telegraph, Sydney 2 July 1919; Ethel White’s scrap book, vol. 1, p. 68. G e n e r a l S ir B r u d e n e l l Wh ite 51 Again, in 1921 he expressed a similar sentiment:70 Who will dare to say that Gallipoli was a failure if, from the memory of our tears there, and if from the memory of those men who laid down their lives, there should be created in this Australia of ours a nationalism which is true nationalism ... It is a notion that explains the great and growing interest in the Great War and in particular the Gallipoli campaign amongst Australians generally and particularly school children. Egypt to the Western Front Brudenell arrived in Egypt in the battleship HMAS Glory having spent Christmas on Mudros. In a letter to Ethel he related how, not long after his arrival, he met Colonel Howse, a great friend, talking to an Engineer General who wanted to know who was ‘the very young General. Quite the youngest General I have seen’. Howse replied, ‘Yes and he has more brains than all the old ones put together’! … Funny thing success, everyone was quite ready to bow down to me when I arrived in Cairo … and senior Generals prepared to listen to me quite respectfully … that is enough brag.71 In Egypt he had the principal role in implementing the expansion of the AIF to four divisions. This involved the ‘doubling’ of the Australian Imperial Force and its relocation to France. This massive task Brudenell accomplished in six weeks. He directed every aspect of the reorganisation. Smoothly executed, it was an outstanding administrative achievement and, following soon after his planning of the withdrawal from Anzac, formed the second of the two most brilliant and successful operations carried out by an Australian soldier. Sir John Monash’s praise of Brudenell was sincere: ‘He is far and away the ablest soldier Australia has ever turned out. He is also a charming good fellow.’72 One of the new divisional commands might have gone to him, but Birdwood chose to maintain continuity in the force’s administration. Explaining his decision to George Pearce, the Australian Minister of Defence, Birdwood said that Brudenell was: … of far greater value to the Australian force and to the Empire as my Chief of Staff than he would be as a divisional general. He helps me and advises me on all Australian matters, and ... I should feel very lost without him.73 70 Sydney Morning Herald, 2 April 1921; Ethel White’s scrap book, vol. 2, p. 59a. 71 Letter Brudenell to Ethel, 9 January 1916, National Library, White Papers; Derham, The Silence Ruse, p.39. 72 Pedersen, P A, Monash as Military Commander, Melbourne University Press, 1985, p. 133. 73 Letter Birdwood to Pearce, 24 March 1916, Pearce Papers, AA A4719/1, item 63, vol. 12; Bentley, General Brudenell White and the Making of an Army, a Book Proposal, 2005. 52 General Si r Brudenel l W hi t e Brudenell visits the ANZAC Headquarters at Ismailia, Egypt, February 1916. Appointed CB (Companion of the Order of the Bath) Brudenell embarked for France on 29 March 1916 as BGGS, 1st ANZAC Corps. On reaching France, he was involved in the creation of the Australian Administrative Headquarters in Horseferry Road, London, and wrote its operating charter and advised Birdwood on its staffing and command. From this point on the AIF became self-governing with an administrative apparatus that was to rival the Army Headquarters in Melbourne and which gave the AIF a substantial level of independence from the Army Headquarters and Ministry of Defence. His authority over the AIF on the Western Front was pervasive. It was generally recognised that he was responsible for running the corps, while Birdwood exercised command through regular and direct contact with the men. When General Sir Douglas Haig rebuked the Anzac Corps staff after a failure at Pozières Heights in July 1916, it was Brudenell who showed him ‘in detail, item by item’ that the criticism was unfounded. Haig was sufficiently impressed to reply: ‘I daresay you are right, young man’. Notwithstanding his close relationship with ‘his’ Australians, Birdwood’s administration and organisation were weak and his tactical acumen suspect. Brudenell more than compensated for these shortcomings. In fact the real responsibility for the command of the Australian divisions fell upon Brudenell. He could not recall Birdwood ever drafting a plan, and as for his visits to the men, ‘he never brought back with him a reliable summary of what he had seen there. He would say that so-and-so had a couple of G e n e r a l S ir B r u d e n e l l Wh ite 53 Field Marshal William Riddell Birdwood GCB GCMG GCVO GBE companies overlooking such and such a post. I would find out later this was completely wrong.’ Birdwood’s habit of passing all operational matters on to Brudenell placed an extraordinary burden upon him. By mid-1917, the strain was telling to such an extent that he called General Birdwood ‘a man of no quality ... so petty was I that even today when the chief went on leave I could not bring myself to congratulate him on his KCB ... Up to now I have treated it in contemptuous silence which I could see he observed.’74 After the failure of Bullecourt in 1917 Brudenell, like many Australians, began to reassess their confidence in the British High Command. In later years Brudenell believed he should have more stringently resisted General Gough’s battle plan and risked being relieved of his command and returned to England.75 During the Second Battle of Bullecourt Brudenell informed Major General Sir Neill Malcolm, Major General, General Staff British Fifth Army, that: … he would never again give his concurrence in the sending overseas of an Australian force unless it had on the staff of the commander-in-chief a representative with the unquestioned right of placing its point of view before the ‘chief ’.76 Brudenell earned considerable respect for his ability to speak his mind in a polite but forthright manner. In an analysis of Brudenell, Birdwood remarked that he gave his views to his leader ‘fearlessly and unhesitatingly’ and then carried out his commander’s recommendations, even when they were contrary to his own.77 Moreover, Brudenell understood the need to provide for the comfort and well-being of the troops, notably in the dreadful winter of 1916–17 when there was an urgent requirement to build camps, roads and railways. Because it became known that he could get things done, problems were referred to him: ‘During this, the most difficult period of the AIF’s existence’, he wielded unprecedented influence. Under Birdwood, Brudenell found himself the ‘tactical and administrative commander in all but name’.78 Although concern had already been expressed that he was ‘being kept back on account of his usefulness as a staff officer’, as Birdwood had admitted in a letter to Hutton in September, Brudenell was promoted temporary MajorGeneral on 1 January 1917 and continued as Birdwood’s chief of staff. Throughout the advance to the Hindenburg line in March, he constantly advised the divisional commanders and maintained control in the unfamiliar 74 Pedersen, P A, Monash As Military Commander, Melbourne University Press, 1985, p. 298. 75 Bean, Two Men I Knew, p. 154. 76 Bean, Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918, Vol. 4, p. 684. 77 Birdwood, ‘General Sir Brudenell White’, pp. 5–7; Bentley, Champion of Anzac, h 2. 78 Bean, Two Men I Knew, p 222. 54 General Si r Brudenel l W hi t e Imperial officers on a Staff Tour, 1917. conditions of fighting on the move. At times his responsibilities bore hard upon him. Writing to his old friend Brigadier General (Sir) John Gellibrand in June, after the two costly battles of Bullecourt, he vented his dissatisfaction with Birdwood and the remainder of the staff. Yet, he attributed his irritability to tiredness: ‘I know in my innermost heart that all I need is a certain amount of rest and freedom from responsibility and I will see the world in correct perspective again for a while.’ In July 1917, when Currie assumed command of the Canadian Corps, Haig told Brudenell he should be commanding the 1st Anzac and was peeved by the latter’s reply: ‘God forbid! General Birdwood has a position among Australians which is far too valuable to lose’. In view of Haig’s dislike of Birdwood: ‘from that moment forward, Monash was Haig’s man’.79 During 1917 the value of the Australian troops was being more and more appreciated, but among the troops themselves there was some feeling that they were being too often sacrificed through the mistakes of the higher 79 Bean, Two Men I Knew, p. 164; Pedersen, P A, Monash as Military Commander, Melbourne University Press, 1985, relying on Bean’s Diary. However, AJ Smithers in Sir John Monash, A Biography of Australia’s most distinguished Soldier of the First World War, Leo Cooper, London 1973, at p. 200, expresses the view that Haig was too big a man to permit a moment of irritation resulting from a failure to be rid of Birdwood to feel rancour against a man whose loyalty to his chief had foiled him. He knew perfectly well that Brudenell had been the effective commander of the corps many times during the absence of Birdwood and that he would make an admirable successor. G e n e r a l S ir B r u d e n e l l Wh ite 55 command. By September Brudenell had become convinced that as far as possible piecemeal operations must be avoided, that too great advances should not be attempted, and that there must be a proper use of artillery barrage. These tactics were successfully applied in the Battle of Menin Road on 20 September 1917, and in later thrusts. Charles Bean and (Sir) Keith Murdoch agitated behind the scenes later in the year to have Brudenell placed in command, though to no avail. Brudenell was appointed CMG in December. Following the collapse of the British Fifth Army in the German offensive of March 1918, General Birdwood was selected as its commander, opening the question of who should lead the newly formed Australian Corps. There was much debate about who would be chosen. Much later it was reported that: The Prime Minister once told a story of Sir John Monash’s appointment as corps commander in succession to Birdwood. He sent for General White, and asked him who were the Australians who had reasonable claims to the position. White mentioned Sir John Monash and one of the other divisional commanders. ‘Is that all?’ asked Mr Hughes. ‘Those two stand out, Sir,’ replied Sir Brudenell. ‘Did you ever hear of a chap named White?’ said Mr Hughes. The soldier laughed and shook his head, and Sir John got the corps.80 On learning in May that Major General Sir John Monash would be appointed and that Brudenell would go to the Fifth Army with Birdwood, Bean and Murdoch revived their campaign: their aim was to have Monash promoted general and made general officer commanding the AIF in England, thus leaving Brudenell to take the corps. Brudenell gave them no encouragement and dissociated himself from their manoeuvres. His conduct was exemplary. As Monash was his senior, he could not see how Monash could be passed over without injustice. Hence he did nothing to advance his own cause, much to the chagrin of Bean and the other correspondents.81 Monash’s appointment had been proper and deserved. As arrangements stood, administrative command of the AIF would remain nominally with Birdwood, but in effect with Brudenell, thereby enabling him to retain control of the cherished force he had done so much to create and advance. For these reasons, Brudenell suppressed personal ambition for what he held to be a greater good. On 1 June he took up duties as Major-General, General Staff, Fifth Army, and had little further involvement in operations. He was promoted to Lieutenant-General and performed the dual roles of Chief of Staff, Australian Imperial Force and Chief of Staff, British 5th Army (the first Australian appointed to such a position). 80 The Herald, Melbourne, 20 May 1922. 81 Pedersen, P A, Monash As Military Commander, Melbourne University Press, 1985, p. 216. 56 General Si r Brudenel l W hi t e It is not widely known that the plan for the Battle of Hamel was originally Brudenell’s. At a critical juncture of the war the British military leadership asked Brudenell to plan the attack. Brudenell planned the attack even though he expressed serious reservations and objections to the proposed operation. In his account of the Battle of Hamel, historian John Laffin argues that once again Brudenell had demonstrated his moral courage in pressing home his objections to a general.82 The attack was postponed owing to the last German offensive in 1918. With Brudenell’s transfer to the British 5th Army it was left to Sir John Monash to undertake this operation and ultimately take the credit.83 On 10 January 1918, Brudenell’s father, John Warren White, aged 91, died at the residence of his daughter Mrs Kenneth Hutchinson (Mabel) at Vulture Street, South Brisbane. Early in 1918, Brudenell, realising the difficulties of repatriation at the end of the war, raised the problem of what would have to be done while the men were waiting for shipping. This led to the educational scheme afterwards adopted. After the Armistice on 11 November 1918, Brudenell was sent to London to preside, briefly as it turned out, over the Demobilization and Repatriation Branch. He was promoted temporary Lieutenant-General and made Chief of Staff, AIF, on 28 November 1918. He was appointed KCMG on 1 January 1919. For his services after Gallipoli, he received five foreign decorations, was appointed aide-de-camp to King George V and mentioned in despatches five times. His brilliant war record had been due to his loyalty, professionalism, intelligence and capacity to work harmoniously with successive leaders. As Smithers put it succinctly, ‘[h]e had a talent for clarity of thought and painstaking explanation which few others could equal, allied to an integrity fully matching that of Bridges. No man ever left him in anger.’84 CEW Bean in 1919. 82 Laffin, J,The Battle of Hamel: The Australians’ Finest Victory, Kangaroo Press, Melbourne, 1999, p. 55; Bentley, General Brudenell White and the Making of an Army, a Book Proposal, 2005. 83 Albeit with the use of the new Mark V tank. 84 Smithers, AJ, Sir John Monash, p. 35. G e n e r a l S ir B r u d e n e l l Wh ite 57 The poet bloke wot wrote about The good that Birdy’s done, He mighter said a word about The man behind the ‘gun’. I’m not referring to me mates, Nor cobbers of a fight; But just about the quiet bloke, OUR Major-General White. ..... We done a lot for Birdy, An’ we ‘elped ‘im on a few, An’ ‘e’s gathered in the limelight, But give a bloke ‘is due And when the tale is proper told With censors put to right, You’ll learn the Anzac champ-i-on Was Major-General White. Melbourne Herald, 28 June 1918. The return to Australia Sir Brudenell returned to Australia aboard the Australia, as the guest of Commodore Dumaresq, in June 1919, and was fêted as a war hero. Ethel kept a scrap book containing many of the newspaper reports of his return. His first port was Fremantle in Western Australia. The West Australian reported on his birth and history and reported many comments, including: When asked what he regarded as the chief achievement of the Australians during the war, the Lieutenant-General said it was a very difficult question to answer. Their deeds in France were magnificent, but he could not help thinking that history would show that their operations at Gallipoli were perhaps the most outstanding. It was the irreverent Bulletin of 24 July 1919 which put his position in perspective when it reported: 58 General Si r Brudenel l W hi t e Lieutenant-General Brudenell White in Adelaide with Commodore J S Dumaresq of the Australia, and Sir Henry Galway, Governor of South Australia, 1919. ...White ... as Chief of Staff to Bridges and Birdwood, worked hard with the Diggers from the first days on Gallipoli to the last minute in France. In several stunts shells started following him about and on one occasion a huge missile dropped onto his motor just after he had left it, and blew a horrible vacancy for a car and chauffeur. White comes from St Arnaud (Vic) which produced a quantity of expert rifleman, but he began his military life in the banana land and had his initial whiff of war in South Africa. Now only 42 and charged with advising on the organisation of the future Australian Army, the General has a restless life before him. Soon he will be needing a dray to haul his decorations which include, beside the inevitable KCMG and CB, the DSO, MC, Belgian Croix de Guerre, and the Gold Medal for Merit from little Montenegro. The Register of Adelaide, on 7 June 1919, had reported in much more glowing terms: G e n e r a l S ir B r u d e n e l l Wh ite 59 In those far back years before the war, a young officer used to come over to South Australia from Military Headquarters and inspect the camps. He was a Captain then. But a long time before that I remember meeting, with General Sir Edward Hutton, when he was General Officer Commanding the Australian Forces, a smart lieutenant who was his orderly officer. It was his business to carry messages from Gen Hutton and do his bidding generally. I recall today that the GOC said he did the job capitally. Gen Hutton took to him. And I remember, too, that on the visits to the military camps there was always something this young officer did and something that he said which made the Commandant refer to him as ‘a coming man’. They said one day he would occupy Gen Hutton’s position in Australia. On Friday afternoon, at Government House, I shook hands with Major-General Sir Cyril White [sic] KCMG, CBE, DSO – a ‘coming’ man no longer, but here as one of the most brilliant celebrities of the war. Yet I saw no difference in him. He was bigger in personality, of course, filled out by great and dramatic achievements during nearly five years of war. And I knew his vision must have widened, although with his keen, penetrating intellect, he always saw a long way ahead. Yet there were the same qualities of resolute self effacement and, if possible, an even more robust patriotism. I saw the same discerning eyes, the same kindly face, but older for what he had gone through. He was still the great enthusiast, the great Australian, caring not a jot for the clever things he did, so long as it was to some practical purpose – and Australia benefited and got the credit. No amount of glory will change that wonderful young man. Brudenell arrived at Spencer Street Station on 7 June 1919. A portion of the station platform had been enclosed with barricades, and in the enclosure was a distinguished group of senior naval and military officers. A military band welcomed him. Preceded by six mounted policeman and a military band, Brudenell and Ethel, accompanied by Brigadier-General Brand and followed by a procession of motor cars, drove to the Town Hall by way of Collins, Elizabeth, Burke and Swanston streets. Then followed a reception at the Town Hall at which the Lord Mayor presided, attended by the Acting Minister for Defence, Senator Russell, and many other distinguished guests. Not long after his arrival in Melbourne, Brudenell and Ethel travelled to Brisbane on the Sydney Mail Train. He was greeted at the Brisbane Central Railway station, to quote the Brisbane Telegraph85, …as a distinguished and gallant soldier should – amidst a flourish of trumpets and the cheers and shouts of an enormous concourse … 85 4 July 1919. 60 General Si r Brudenel l W hi t e densely thronged with people … and a great outburst of cheering. Branches of golden wattle adorned the interior of the carriage in which General and Lady White travelled. He was there to visit his mother and his family, not on official business, but was greeted as a returning hero. The Telegraph continued to describe the welcome: Outside the platform, General and Lady White passed through a guard of honour formed by returned soldiers, entered a waiting motorcar, which was gaily decorated with red, white and blue streamers, while the Union Jack and the Australian flag completely enveloped the hood and body of the car. People crowded around the car and vociferously cheered their soldier hero… Brudenell found that his first peacetime task was to join Major-General Legge, Sir James McCay and George Swinburne on a committee which considered the future organisation of the AMF. Their report recommended a modified system of compulsory military training and a citizen force structure of six infantry and two mounted divisions – some 180 000 men. In February 1920 the committee, enlarged to comprise six generals of the former AIF, produced a second report. Minor changes to the earlier proposals were suggested. Chief of the General Staff On 1 June 1920 Brudenell was appointed Chief of the General Staff. In that position, he was prepared to implement the committee’s proposals for the future organisation of the AMF, but faced savage cuts in defence spending. Rather than building a citizen army, as he had hoped, he found himself preserving as much of it as he could in a nucleus organisation which would be capable of expansion in an emergency. Brudenell imposed one key principle, the retention of a nucleus within each layer of the army. This allowed for the key people in commands, staff, divisions, brigades, battalions, companies and platoons to be highly trained. These people would then provide the traditions, values and knowledge upon which to base any future expansion of the army. He was obviously drawing on the lessons of 1916 when he doubled the size of the AIF.86 In February 1920 the Prime Minister announced that Brudenell had been appointed as organiser for Australia of the impending visit of HRH the Prince of Wales in May. This was an occasion of great excitement and much reported in the press. There were, of course, formal events at Government Houses around the land. But one less formal event is striking in its portrayal of the times: 86 Bentley, Champion of Anzac, Epilogue, p. 338. G e n e r a l S ir B r u d e n e l l Wh ite 61 Admiral Halsey and Brudenell at Coochin Coochin, Boonah, Queensland, during the visit of the Prince of Wales, 1920. The Prince spent what he himself declared as one of the most enjoyable afternoons he had experienced since his tour began. Accompanied by Lieutenant-General Sir Brudenell White, he was a guest of the South Australian Jockey club at Morphettville, where a varied entertainment of racing, coursing and riding had been arranged for him. Only a few privileged people with special passes were permitted to enter the course. Upon expressing a desire to canter around the course, the steeplechaser, High Degree, was produced for the Prince, while Sir Brudenell White was mounted on Erskine, and Mr Nat Campbell strode Ferrignite. The trio cantered to the three-furlong post, where the Prince suddenly broke away with Ferrignite in hot pursuit, and, amid all round cheering, His Royal Highness was first home by about half a length. Another spin was immediately agreed upon and the trio again cantered round the course and on this occasion High Degree got the best of matters at the home turn and again the Prince was successful from Ferrignite. The Prince, perspiring freely, was still keen for the fray and the third contest he rode Ferrignite and Mr Campbell changed over onto Boontree, while Sir Brudenell White was still mounted on Erskine.87 That Brudenell carried out the arrangements for the tour to the satisfaction of the Royal visitor is evidenced by the KCVO that was bestowed on him, an honour rare in Australia, and at that time he was the only Australian to have it.88 87 Argus, Melbourne, 16 July 1920. And there were more races thereafter by the Prince against Mr. Campbell and Brudenell reported in the article. 88The Royal Victorian Order was established in 1896 by Queen Victoria as a Junior and personal order of knighthood. Membership of the Order is conferred by the reigning Monarch without ministerial advice on those who have performed personal service to the sovereign, any member of his or her family or any Viceroy. 62 General Si r Brudenel l W hi t e In January 1921 Brudenell and Ethel’s youngest child was born, Rosemary Joan Brudenell, who later married David P Derham and who wrote The Silence Ruse, a record and memory of the life of Brudenell White. Also at about the same time, Brudenell purchased Aralba,89 in Grange Road, Toorak. The Honourable Sir John Young AC KCMG, after his retirement as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, when launching The Silence Ruse, reminisced: In 1925 my father bought Sir Brudenell White’s house in Toorak. Rosemary remembers a small boy led by his father’s hand down the path. I cannot remember that occasion but I did always know that we had bought Brudenell White’s house. I was not told much about him but I gained the impression that my father stood somewhat in awe of him. And well he might have done, not that Brudenell White was, I imagine, a particularly awesome figure – he had I gather a friendly manner – but his achievements were indeed aweinspiring. Chairman of the Public Service Board Brudenell with his youngest child, Rosemary, in the garden at Aralba, Toorak, April 1924. Retiring as Chief of General Staff in June 1923, Brudenell was appointed chairman of the newly constituted Commonwealth Public Service Board. Although his primary task was to reclassify the service, he also supervised the progressive transfer of departments from Melbourne to Canberra. Brudenell drew upon his extensive experience as a manager and administrator within the Australian Army to form an organisational structure for the Public Service that is still used today.90 Between the Wars, Brudenell was invited to speak on a great variety of occasions, including Anzac day ceremonies and school speech nights. In 1923 he presented the prizes at Camberwell Girls’ Grammar School and a report in the Argus quoted part of his speech:91 … there were three principles with which to equip ourselves. They might be termed the ‘three Cs’ – Christianity, character, and capacity! Character might be gained by the development of self-reliance. He had no love for the boy or girl who had not really got that spirit. People were too apt to 89 An Aboriginal word meaning ‘camping’ or ‘resting place’. 90 Bentley, Champion of Anzac. 91 Argus 21 December 1923; Ethel White’s scrap book, vol. 2, p. 73. G e n e r a l S ir B r u d e n e l l Wh ite 63 Lady White featured on the front of Queensland Society magazine, September 1923. take their cue from someone else and seldom had the courage to express their own opinions. Work was the keynote of capacity. It was not the irksome sort of thing that many people supposed. It had honour and dignity, and he had rarely known it to hurt anyone. It was incapacity that hurt. As to Christianity, there was a great fundamental truth in the Bible, which said, ‘Love thy neighbour as thyself ’. Nobody could live alone. To live to the full was to live for somebody, and be kind to one’s neighbour and fellow man. 64 General Si r Brudenel l W hi t e In 1926 he again presented the prizes at the Camberwell Girls’ Grammar School speech night. On this occasion his remarks were more directed to his female audience. He was reported – again in the Argus – as saying92: … there should be some ideal, some ambition, in all they tried to do. It was very necessary for them to feel that individual happiness, success, and welfare were important, but that the welfare of Australia was the thing that really mattered... If Australia were to have a right ideal it must be built in the home. That was the right place, and practically the only place. Were we in Australia making the home all that it should be? Sometimes he doubted whether we were … Home life should be made beautiful and memorable. There was a little tendency today for young folks to be awfully nice to strangers, but not so nice to those at home. This should not be. Every home could be made a home of beauty by the spirit within it. That was the ideal he desired to place before the young girls of the Camberwell Grammar School. They should not forget a woman’s influence. Christianity was the basis of our civilisation, but one of the pillars of the superstructure was undoubtedly woman’s influence. Girls should not let their natures be changed because the fashion of their clothes had been changed. They should not forget that modesty and gentleness were characteristics of their sex. The girl should not try to be too much like a boy. There were plenty of boys here already. No one should be afraid to work. The average man or woman who had too much spare time was not happy ... In 1925 Brudenell purchased a grazing property of 2400 acres, with homestead, at Middle Creek, near Beaufort, Victoria. It formed part of the Burnbrae estate of Mr J McDonald, who retained 1200 acres. There he established a home and grazing property and named it Woodnaggerak93. The price was about £10 000. Brudenell sold Aralba to Mr G D Young for £5500. He worked in Melbourne during the week, staying at the Melbourne Club, and spent the weekends at Woodnaggerak, taking the train to and fro. In 1932 Brudenell purchased 295 acres from the estate of the late John Simpson. Later, in 1934, he purchased Challicum, near Buangor and just 10 miles from Woodnaggerak, which became the home of his elder son, Jim. Woodnaggerak homestead, Middle Creek, near Beaufort, Victoria. 92 Argus 18 December 1926; Ethel White’s scrap book, vol. 2, p. 73. 93 An aboriginal word meaning ‘long arms’. G e n e r a l S ir B r u d e n e l l Wh ite 65 Above: Brudenell (on the far left) and Ethel (right) during the April 1927 Royal Tour of their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of York. Left: Brudenell as their ‘guide, philosopher and friend’. In 1927 he was appointed director-general of the Royal tour by the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth), and in consequence was appointed KCB. His organisation of the tour was reported to be exemplary. He was always in the background, yet so great an organiser that the only mishap in the whole tour was when an excited Aborigine at Beaudesert (Queensland) threw his boomerang through the luncheon marquee and nearly decapitated Royalty. They say that the blackfellow’s sprint into the scrub when Brudenell approached to question him beat the Olympic record for the distance.94 94 The Herald, Melbourne, 16 March 1940; Ethel White’s scrap book, vol. 2 p. 115a. 66 General Si r Brudenel l W hi t e Chairman of the New Zealand Loan & Mercantile Agency Wishing to remain within weekly commuting distance of Woodnaggerak, when the Commonwealth Government moved to Canberra he chose not to move, and in 1928 declined a further term on the Public Service Board. That year he became chairman and superintendent for Australia of the New Zealand Loan & Mercantile Agency Co. Ltd95. He was also appointed to other Boards and bodies, including the Trustees Executors and Agency Company Ltd.96 His withdrawal from public office enabled him to build up his pastoral interests and to enjoy the simple pleasures he preferred. He read widely, with a special interest in history. Ever ready to give his time to charitable and service organisations, he was a trustee of the AIF Canteen Funds Trust and the Baillieu Education Trust, and a member of the Australian War Memorial Board and the Board of Management of the Alfred Hospital. He was President of the Melbourne Club in 1934, and prominent in its affairs. Claims have been made that Brudenell was involved in right-wing ‘secret armies’ in the 1920s and 1930s. The evidence for such assertions is circumstantial at best, consisting mainly of hearsay in police intelligence files which alleges that he was prominent in the ‘White Army’; this organisation, however, took its title from the political associations of the colour and not from Brudenell’s surname. A man of sensitivity and intellect, he believed in the rule of law. His training and experience had finally persuaded him that democracy was ‘right in principle’. He later argued that there was ‘no need for national guards, legions, or such like organisations’: citizens should be encouraged to support their elected political leaders. Though patrician in manner and very conservative in his views, he was an improbable political vigilante. Caption Brudenell White in 1937. 95 The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company Limited operated in the fields of wool-broking, pastoral investment and stock and station activities. It was originally incorporated in 1865. The company made advances in the Australasian Colonies on produce, on the stations and stocks of run-holders, and on the growing clips of wool; and received the consignment of wool, grain, tallow, leather, hides, skins, horns, preserved and frozen meats, metals, cotton, kauri gum, etc., for sale in London. The company entered into no mercantile ventures on its own account. Its head quarters in the colonies were in Auckland, and it had offices in twenty-one towns and cities in New Zealand, besides branches and agencies in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Rockhampton, Launceston, Fiji, and San Francisco. The head office of the company was No. 1, Queen Victoria Street, Mansion House, London. In 1893 in consequence of the financial depression, the Company suspended operations with a view to reconstruction, which occurred in 1894. It merged with Dalgety & Co Ltd in Nov 1961 to form Dalgety & New Zealand Loan Ltd Many of the records of the Company are in the Australian National University Archives. Brudenell gave evidence in the Banking Royal Commission of 1936 and his evidence showed that the Company competed with Banks in making advances (loans) to pastoralists and farmers. 96 Precisely when he was appointed to the Board of this company is not clear, but he was vice-chairman in 1937: see the report of the AGM in the Argus on 20 August 1937. G e n e r a l S ir B r u d e n e l l Wh ite 67 The Second World War Placed on the retired list in the rank of honorary lieutenant-general in August 1939, Brudenell was recalled to be Chief of the General Staff on 15 March 1940, following the death in office of Lieutenant-General Ernest Squires. His sense of duty compelled him to accept the post – which brought promotion to General – even though at 63 years of age he believed himself to be out of date: ‘I feel like Cincinnatus called from his farm’, said Brudenell when he was called from a job of digging out a spring to water his stock to be congratulated. ‘And may I say that I much prefer being Cincinnatus at the plough although I do appreciate the honour paid to me’.97 His appointment as General was gazetted on 23 March 1940 and was the first time an Australian soldier on the active list had served as a full General. Both Sir Harry Chauvel and Sir John Monash had been promoted to the rank of General after their retirement from active service.98 One of Brudenell’s first acts as Chief of the General Staff was to recommend Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Blamey for command of the new Australian Infantry Force. In April he urged that Blamey and the 7th Division should sail as soon as possible to join the 6th Division; in May and June he recommended that the AIF should be brought into the fighting without delay, preferably assisting the beleaguered French. Meanwhile, he grappled with the problems of training and munitions supply. His second term as Chief of the General Staff proved too short to affect the course of Australia’s effort in the Second World War. Brudenell’s greatest achievement had been in the previous conflict: one of the founders of the Australian Imperial Force, he had become its ‘tactical and administrative commander in all but name’. A consummate chief of staff, his distinction in the role had denied him senior command and the public recognition that went with it. Nevertheless, Bean described him as the greatest man he had ever known, and his judgment was shared by many. On 13 August 1940 Brudenell flew from Melbourne in the company of three Federal ministers, James Fairbairn, Sir Henry Gullett and Geoffrey Street; their aircraft crashed near Canberra aerodrome, killing all ten on board. After a service at St Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne, with state and military honours, Brudenell was buried in Buangor cemetery. His wife, two daughters and two sons survived him. A portrait of Brudenell by John Longstaff is in the Australian War Memorial and he is commemorated by a bronze plaque in the Church of St John the Baptist, Canberra. 97 Quoted in the Courier-Mail, Brisbane, 13 March 1940; Ethel White’s scrap Book, vol. 2, p. 104. 98 Argus, 21 March 1940; Ethel White’s scrapbook, volume 2, p. 98. 68 General Si r Brudenel l W hi t e The VIP aeroplane crash in which Brudenell White and nine others were killed was reported in the Telegraph of 14 August 1940. A Great Soldier It has been said that Brudenell: … was devoted to the Australian Soldier and the welfare of members of the AIF was always uppermost in his mind. He had, in a sense, created the first AIF, for it was his plan that was put into effect when war broke out and he felt a special responsibility for them. He abhorred unnecessary loss of life and he was highly critical of occasions when lives were unnecessarily lost through failure to complete adequate planning.99 Writing of Brudenell, Robert Menzies said: What a great man he was in character, in attainments, in patriotism. Of all the men who served Australia in the military sphere, he is the one to whom my memory will turn in my last days as the very model of everything that an Australian should be.100 99 The words of Sir John Young at the launch of The Silence Ruse. 100 Robert Menzies, ‘Foreword’, in Derham, The Silence Ruse, p. viii. G e n e r a l S ir B r u d e n e l l Wh ite 69 Brudenell was a man of great personal charm whose pleasant manner did not suggest his real strength. He was quite unselfseeking, completely loyal to his superiors and to his men. He had had an excellent training, he had great powers of work and a quick brain; his remarkable grasp of essentials enabled him to give prompt decisions on all problems whether of organisation or tactics. These were some of the qualities that made him, as chief of staff, one of the great soldiers of the 1914–18 war. To some he was a greater soldier than Monash who himself described him as ‘far and away the ablest soldier Australia had ever turned out’, but their work was scarcely comparable. It may truly be said of Brudenell that, although apparently little in touch with the junior officers and men in the ranks, no single man did more to mould the AIF. In an article written under the nom de plume of ‘Menin’ in the Sydney Sun on 25 January 1920, Charles Bean said of Brudenell: … White, tall, slight and elegant, is a polished gentleman of extraordinary personal charm. His high intelligence is told in the singular light in his eyes; his strength of character in his great hooked nose and his firm but sensitive mouth. White is so delightfully courteous and so disarmingly diffident in his manner that on first acquaintance one might not suspect his piercing, luminous insight, his unshakeable strength of character, or his wide and sure grasp not only of all things military, but a great range of diverse subjects outside his profession … White went away from Australia as a staff major and came back a Lieutenant-General and Chief of Staff to one of England’s five great Western front armies. And in all that time no one ever declared that he was lucky; in all that time one is safe in saying that he never applied or moved by indirect means for a single one of his many promotions. He did not owe his staff rise from relative obscurity to international fame, as did so many British soldiers who reached high places during the war, to social or political influence … Birdwood was a thousand times lucky in his Australian chief of staff … of the two White was the man of genius. Birdwood directed, but White suggested, and White executed. It is said and I believe with truth that on the night after landing at Anzac, when the capital objective, which was the complete crossing of the Peninsula, had been proved impossible of attainment, White had the foresight and courage to urge an immediate evacuation. Be that as it may, it was White who drafted the orders for the evacuation and who alone was responsible for the handling of that famous and delicate movement … 70 General Si r Brudenel l W hi t e White worked in the dark. He courted no publicity. I remember seeing him one day in France when Haig was inspecting two of the Australian divisions, shortly before the terrible fighting at Passchendaele. Both divisions were at full strength. They paraded with their arms bared to the elbows and two more beautiful or formidable divisions of fighting men never walked upon this earth. There was an imposing array of staff officers from GHQ, army and corps. Sitting on his horse, away and alone in the rear of the gilded and pretentious staff throng, was General White, his position and whole bearing expressing a shrinking dislike from the limelight ceremonial. So it was with him all through the war. Avoiding all notice, he was almost unknown to the Australian people, and he was very little known to the men who were his ceaseless thought and care at Gallipoli and in France … Brudenell White in 1937. With an amazing capacity for hard work, White possesses an intensely sympathetic mind of a very exceptional quality. Staff officers who loved White – and they were a legion – often sought to save him from the multitudinous details associated not only with the corps command, but with the thousand and one affairs of administration in connection with a body of three hundred thousand soldiers. ‘But,’ they would say, ‘White is so accessible, and he clears up things so swiftly and decisively, and his decisions are so final and dependable, that we find, try as we may, everything which gives trouble comes up sooner or later for his settlement.’ White at work was a fine exhibition of a rich, lightning-like judicial mind. Detaching completely from subject to subject it would scan papers, sum up pros and cons, and settle, in a few minutes, complex riddles which had been vexing his various staff officers for days and weeks. And always the same charming, smiling courtesy, always the immovable good humour, but always underneath this happy exterior the same steely strength. White was like a rare, dependable old blade of Toledo. The adulation that Bean heaped on Brudenell has caused many subsequent historians to doubt the efficacy of his opinions concerning White’s contributions as depicted in this article, and in other respects concerning his achievements. I have little doubt that during his life this adulation embarrassed Brudenell, but I have not so far seen any mention of it in his diaries. Note: For references see p. 213. G e n e r a l S ir B r u d e n e l l Wh ite 71 72 General Si r Brudenel l W hi t e