Lieutenant General Sir Leslie James Morshead, (18 September 1889 – 26 September 1959) was an Australian soldier, teacher, businessman, and farmer, whose military career spanned both world wars. During the Second World War, he led the Australian and British troops at the Siege of Tobruk (1941) and at the Second Battle of El Alamein, achieving decisive victories over Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps. His soldiers nicknamed him "Ming the Merciless", later simply "Ming", after the villain in the Flash Gordon comics (Morshead had a habit of squinting and stroking his chin when in deep thought, much like how Ming the Merciless was portrayed when describing evil plans).
When the First World War broke out in August 1914, Morshead resigned his teaching position and his commission in the Cadet Corps to travel to Sydney and enlist as a private in the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the First Australian Imperial Force. He was commissioned as a lieutenant in September. He landed at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, and his battalion made the farthest advance of any Australian unit that day. Invalided to Australia, he became commander of the 33rd Infantry Battalion, which he led on the Western Front at Messines, Passchendaele, Villers-Bretonneux, and Amiens.
Between the wars Morshead made a successful business career with the Orient Steam Navigation Company, and remained active in the part-time Militia, commanding battalions and brigades. In 1939, he was appointed to command the 18th Infantry Brigade of the 6th Division in the Second Australian Imperial Force. In 1941, he became commander of the 9th Division, which he led in the Siege of Tobruk and the Second Battle of El Alamein. He returned to Australia in 1943, where he was appointed to command II Corps, which he led during the New Guinea campaign. In 1945, he commanded I Corps in the Borneo campaign.
Early life Morshead was born on 18 September 1889 in Ballarat, Victoria, the sixth of seven children of William Morshead, a gold miner who had emigrated from Cornwall, England via Canada, and his wife Mary Eliza Morshead, formerly Rennison, the Australian-born daughter of a fellow Cornish immigrant. William died when Morshead was six years old. He was educated at Mount Pleasant High School, where he was appointed a junior teacher in 1906.
In 1909, he became a student at the Melbourne Teachers' Training College to obtain formal teaching qualifications. After his graduation in December 1910, he was awarded a scholarship to complete an education diploma at the University of Melbourne, but decided to defer for a year in order to teach at schools in country Victoria. He became a schoolteacher, teaching first at Tragowell in the Swan Hill district, and then at Fine View State School in the Horsham district. In 1911 he entered Trinity College at the University of Melbourne. After failing an exam in deductive logic, he decided to quit the state school system, and in 1912 took up a position at The Armidale School in the New England district of New South Wales. In 1914 he moved to the prestigious Melbourne Grammar School.
Morshead had been commissioned as a lieutenant in the Australian Army Cadets in 1908. At Armidale, he was appointed commander of the school cadet unit, and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Militia on 10 February 1913. He was promoted to captain in September. At Melbourne Grammar he commanded a company in that school's much larger cadet unit. While at Melbourne Grammar, he met Myrtle Catherine Woodside, the daughter of a Happy Valley, Victoria, grazier, and the sister of one of Morshead's pupils.
First World War
Gallipoli Morshead's teaching career was interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914. He resigned both his teaching position and his commission in the Cadet Corps and travelled up to Sydney to enlist as a private in the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) because it was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel George Braund, whom Morshead knew well from his time teaching in Armidale. Morshead's time in the ranks was brief, as he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the AIF on 19 September. He embarked for Egypt on the transport Suffolk on 18 October 1914. While his battalion was in training there, he was promoted to captain on 8 January 1915.
The 2nd Infantry Battalion landed at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915. Morshead's platoon transferred from the transport Derfflinger to the destroyer , which took it to within of the shore. They then transferred to wooden boats which were towed to the shore, arriving at around 09:30. The battalion made the farthest advance of any Australian unit that day, reaching the slopes of Baby 700, but was driven back by a Turkish counter-attack in the afternoon. It beat off further counter-attacks over the next three days. Morshead assumed command of C Company on 28 April. The battalion defeated major Turkish attacks on its position on 18 May and 8 June.
Promoted to major on 8 June, Morshead distinguished himself in the Battle of Lone Pine on 6 August. So intense was the fighting that of the 22 officers in the battalion, Morshead was the only one who did not become a casualty. However, on 16 September, like many others, he succumbed to dysentery and paratyphoid fever. He was evacuated to the 3rd General Hospital on Lemnos, and then to England on the hospital ship Aquitania, where he was admitted to the 3rd London General Hospital in Wandsworth, England. For his services in the Gallipoli campaign, he was mentioned in despatches.
Western Front
Morshead returned to Australia on 22 January 1916 where he was treated at the 4th General Hospital at Randwick, New South Wales. After he recovered, he was posted to the 33rd Infantry Battalion, which was being raised in Armidale as part of the 3rd Division. He became its commander on 16 April, and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel three days later. He embarked for England again with his battalion on 4 May 1916.
The 33rd Infantry Battalion trained at Larkhill on Salisbury Plain in England until November 1916, when it embarked at Southampton for France. On 7 December it relieved a British battalion in the quiet "nursery" sector of the Western Front around Armentières. Morshead was mentioned in despatches, and awarded the Distinguished Service Order. His citation, written by his division commander, Major General John Monash, read:
Official historian Charles Bean described Morshead as:
Morshead subsequently led the 33rd Infantry Battalion through the Battle of Messines in June 1917, and the disastrous Battle of Passchendaele in October, where the 3rd Division suffered heavy losses. In March 1918, the 3rd Division was sent to the Somme sector to help halt the German Spring Offensive. The 9th Infantry Brigade, of which the 33rd Infantry Battalion was a part, was detached from the 3rd Division and sent to Villers-Bretonneux. On 30 March, the 9th Infantry Brigade's commander, Brigadier General Charles Rosenthal, ordered Morshead to restore the front around Aubercourt. With the aid of the British 12th Lancers, the battalion was able to restore the line, although it was unable to advance as far as Rosenthal hoped. The 33rd Infantry Battalion was then relieved, and withdrawn to Villers-Bretonneux to rest. However, on 4 April, Morshead was astonished to find that the line had again been broken and Villers-Bretonneux threatened. In the First Battle of Villers-Bretonneux, the battalion participated in halting the advance, and prevented the Germans from capturing the town. On 18 April, the 33rd Infantry Battalion was still in the town when it was heavily shelled with poison gas. Many men, including Morshead, became mustard gas casualties. He did not return to his unit until June.
Morshead again led the 33rd Infantry Battalion in the Battle of Amiens. For the fighting in August 1918, he was awarded the French Légion d'honneur in the grade of Chevalier. His citation, written by his new division commander, Major General John Gellibrand, read:
For his service on the Western Front, Morshead was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in December 1919, and was mentioned in despatches three more times.
Between the wars Morshead returned to Australia in November 1919 and his AIF appointment was terminated in March 1920. He considered applying for a regular army commission, but found that these were reserved for graduates of the Royal Military College, Duntroon. He tried farming, accepting a soldier settlement block of near Quilpie, Queensland, but this venture was a failure, and he returned to Melbourne, where he married Myrtle at Scots Church, on 17 November 1921. They had a daughter, Elizabeth in 1923.
After working in odd jobs he joined the Orient Steam Navigation Company in Sydney on 24 October 1924. He was appointed passenger manager of the Sydney office in 1926. Many Orient Line appointments followed. He became publicity manager in January 1927, acting manager of the Melbourne office in May 1928, passenger and publicity superintendent, and then temporary business manager of the Brisbane office in April 1931. He returned to Sydney, and then moved to the Melbourne office, where he became temporary office manager, a position which became permanent in December 1933; in 1937 he went back to the Sydney office.
All this time, he remained active in the part-time Militia, commanding the 19th Infantry Battalion from 1921 to 1925. He became commander of the 36th Infantry Battalion on 1 August 1926. He was promoted to colonel in 1933, and was appointed to command the 14th Infantry Brigade on 1 January 1933. When he moved to Melbourne in 1934, he transferred to command of the 15th Infantry Brigade, then part of the 3rd Division under Major General Sir Thomas Blamey. On returning to Sydney in 1937 he assumed command of the 5th Infantry Brigade. During a visit to England in 1937 as part of his duties with the Orient Line, he had occasion to observe the British Army on manoeuvres in East Anglia, and was impressed by the pace of modern mechanised forces. He also realised that the Australian Army was lagging a long way behind in both human and technical resources. He was promoted to brigadier in 1938. Known for his right-wing views even before the war, he was also a member of the clandestine far-right wing paramilitary organisation the New Guard.
Second World War
Britain On 6 October 1939, Morshead was selected by Blamey to command the 18th Infantry Brigade in the new 6th Division. This brigade was composed of four battalions from the smaller states, and would have been a natural assignment for a regular officer had Prime Minister Robert Menzies not restricted commands to senior posts to Militia officers, few of whom had much experience of the Army outside their home states. Morshead met with Blamey on 13 October to select officers for the new brigade. Like the other brigadiers, he was given a regular officer as brigade major, in this case Major Ragnar Garrett.
Morshead formally enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on 10 October 1939 and was given the AIF serial number NX8. He was given the rank of colonel and made temporary brigadier three days later. A delay in preparing 18th Infantry Brigade's camp in the Hunter Region meant that it was not concentrated there until December. In the meantime its battalions trained in their home states. After the 16th Infantry Brigade departed for Palestine in January 1940, the 18th Infantry Brigade moved into its vacated accommodation at Ingleburn, New South Wales. As a consequence, its training proceeded more slowly than that of the 16th and 17th Infantry Brigades.