Notes
Born 13/4/1894 London, England. Citation for Military Cross: For most conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. During the attack on Peronne on 1 September 1918 he led his Platoon forward, displaying remarkable courage and leadership. Shortly after ‘jumping off’, his Platoon was held up on a very heavy belt of wire directly in front of an enemy strongpoint. The machine gun fire was most intense. Despite this, Lieutenant Tofler crawled forward with two men and attempted to cut the wire, and while doing so was wounded very severely in the right shoulder. He encouraged his men to continue with the task, although bleeding freely. When the gap was cut, he insisted upon being lifted up in utter disregard to his own safety, and led the remnants of his Platoon forward, shooting the entire crew of one machine gun with his left hand. Fourteen prisoners and two machine guns were captured on this point. Although unable to go forward himself, he rallied his men, inspiring all by his splendid fighting spirit and sent them forward. He lay for many hours in this Strong Post refusing to allow any Stretcher Bearers to carry him back until all his own wounded men were attended to and evacuated. JC Stewart Brigadier-General, 5th Australian Division Commanding 15th Infantry Brigade. Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No 7, dated 3 June 1919.
John Monash (Monasch) born
in Melbourne, Australia on 27 June 1865, the son of
German Polish Jewish migrants, can be researched in any
military history encyclopaedia or in fact by just
‘Googling’ his name on the internet. His history
and list of achievements are long and far too many to detail
in this brief summary. However, might I say that reading his
history is well worth the effort and I can assure you that
his deeds will amaze you. I have found that the deeds are
better labelled on more than one man and in more than one
lifetime.
An
announcement was made in the weeks leading up to the
Centenary of ANZAC by Judy Landau, President VAJEX Aust.
She stated that it gave her great delight to announce
that VAJEX Aust (Victorian Association of Jewish Ex
& Servicemen & Women Australia Inc) has
successfully raised the required funds to build a new
Victorian Jewish Memorial after the style of the
historic Memorial located in the Jewish section of the
Melbourne General Cemetery. After an extensive two year
process, Judy has single-handedly sought letters of
support, raised the funds, and obtained approval from
the City of Port Phillip.