AWM Photo 25 May 1918 (left to right): Paul Simonson, John Monash, Aubrey Moss

Eric and Paul Simonson had a close relationship with their Uncle John long before war brought them even closer. John Monash had married their mother’s younger sister Victoria Moss in 1891, and in the early days of their marriage John & Vic relied heavily on their brother-in-law, Max Simonson, as a peace-keeper during this tempestuous time. Maximilian Michaelis Gabriel Simonson had been born in Christburgh, Prussia around 1851, and emigrating to Australia, married Sarah Maria Moss in Victoria in 1884. They had 6 children, all born in Brighton, Eric & Paul being the youngest, born 1894 & 1895 respectively.

Eric followed his uncle into Engineering, and Monash helped him with his studies, advising him that ‘steady conscientious work…a good and wide education is the very best asset, better than wealth and influence.’ During his schooling he’d also been a member of the University Rifles and the Senior Cadets. Having successfully completed his third year at Melbourne University, he walked away from a promising career and into the AIF in the July of 1915. After enlistment he completed a course at Point Cook Aviation School near Werribee, but didn’t join the AFC at the time. Instead, he sailed with the 9^th reinforcements of the 8^th Battalion as a 2^nd Lieutenant, embarking on the Makarini in mid-September.

Paul had also attested in July, but wasn’t accepted until a week before his brother sailed. His mother had given her consent, even though she wasn’t well, and was stoically coping with the mental deterioration of her previously wise and steady husband Max. Paul had been employed as an Accountancy Clerk, but he too had spent time in the Senior Cadets, as well as a couple of years in the Citizen Forces. Embarking only a couple of weeks after his brother, he sailed with the 4^th reinforcements of the 22^nd Battalion on board the A20 Hororata, as an acting Sergeant.

Both boys arrived in Egypt and remained there. Monash took a few weeks leave from Gallipoli Oct / Nov, and spent a couple of days with his favourite nephew Eric. At the end of November Eric transferred to the 14^th Bn, which brought him into the 4^th Brigade and therefore effectively under the command of his uncle. Sarah wrote often to her brother-in-law, asking him to look after her sons, and on the 4^th of January 1916, Eric was transferred to Brigade HQ as Monash’s Orderley Officer. A couple of weeks later Paul was transferred to the 14^th Bn and promoted to Sergeant. He then received his appointment as a 2^nd Lieutenant on the 1^st of February. However, with the rearrangement of battalions in Feb / Mar, Paul was again transferred – into the 14th’s new daughter battalion, the 46^th.

Monash’s nephews took their next step towards the war at the beginning of June, traveling to France a day apart. Paul and his battalion first went into the frontline trenches near Fleurbaix on the 5^th of July. Their baptism of fire was relatively quiet compared to the hell their relief was to face a short time later. Eric’s situation was a little different to his brothers, as he was billeted in a 2-storey mansion in Calais. His time in France was cut short though, when on the 14^th July Monash set sail for England to take command of the new 3^rd Division and Eric went with him as his Aide de Camp (ADC). The quality of Eric’s staff work was appreciated by his uncle, and would have helped make his task easier as they worked tirelessly over the following months to whip the raw division into a fine fighting force. The 3^rd Division was into their third month of training at Lark Hill Camp on Salisbury Plain, when it was arranged for the King to inspect them. Eric had the honour of leading the march-by, which continued for nearly 2 hours and was considered a splendid success.

While his brother and uncle made the return crossing to France on the 22^nd November, Paul was heading the opposite direction, on leave to England. By this time he’d seen a bit of warfare. He’d been through the battle of Pozieres, and as a result had been promoted to Lieutenant. He’d also spent some time in Belgium, and had just left his battalion behind in the harsh winter slush on the Somme.

To allow them to ease into their new lives, the 3^rd Division was placed in a quiet sector at Armentieres, but nothing could prepare them for the weather, it was the coldest winter experienced in over thirty years. Eric didn’t feel it quite as much as the troops however, because for the first couple of months he was comfortably housed in the Plouvier family chateau at Steenwerck. Though most days he and his uncle would walk or ride for miles through the surrounding quagmire attending to the business of war.

At the beginning of December along with two of his fellow officers, Paul was promoted to Captain. Their second Christmas and New Year away from home, was again fairly quiet for both Simonson boys.

In the January of 1917 Monash took another nephew under his wing as an ADC. Aubrey Moss had enlisted in the first month of the war, landed at Gallipoli the first day and stayed put until the evacuation. He’d worked his way up from Private to Lieutenant by mid-1916, and had been doing well until the French winter finally took its toll. The last month of the year saw him laid low with chronic bronchitis, and he walked out of the convalescent home and into his uncle’s care.

As the winter turned to spring the 46^th Bn continued the endless trudge around the war zone, alternating between the line, fatigue parties & rest camps, trying not to complain about their bad lot, but just basically trying to stay alive. This was all to change on the 11^th April with the disastrous attack on the Hindenburg Line at Bullecourt, which left the battalion decimated. Still under strength, their next major involvement and the last that Paul would see with them was at Messines in June. The 3^rd Division also played an important role in this action, and although they suffered huge casualties only a small percentage were deaths, and Monash was extremely happy with the outcome.

Eric, who had caught up with his younger brother and been promoted to Captain in March 1917, finally decided to put his flight training to some use. He transferred to England at the start of September to join the AFC, and Paul stepped into his shoes, so Monash still had a Simonson nephew as an ADC.

Reporting to the No. 1 School of Aeronautics at Reading on the 7^th September, Eric was then attached to the 29^th Training Squad, AFC at Shrewsbury in November, followed by the 43^rd Tng Squad, RFC at Fernhill in December. On the 18^th January 1918 he was appointed Flying Officer Pilot, and then a couple of weeks later posted to 28 Tng Squad, Castle Bromwich for higher instruction.

Meanwhile Paul had taken to his new role and was described by one junior officer as ‘a first-class ADC’, he didn’t however think too highly of Paul’s cousin Aubrey Moss. The cousins both sported moustaches, (although Aubrey’s isn’t evident in the photo) and apparently were widely known as ‘Mo’ and ‘Arf a Mo’.

When Paul joined Monash’s staff, the Division was enjoying a rest near the coast, but by the 1^st of October they were in Ypres, preparing for their part in the Passchendaele campaign. Three days later they made their first attack on Broodseinde Ridge, and their success was considered a ‘remarkable feat’. The weather packed up and conditions deteriorated, and their next objective of Passchendaele Ridge, to be taken on the 12^th, eluded them and cost them dear. They left the salient on the 22^nd of October.

Returning to the quiet sectors of Armentieres & Ploegsteert until March 1918, they then left the line for a rest. This was short lived however when the German Army began their big push for victory. Monash was enjoying a break in the south of France and hastily caught the morning train to Paris, where he’d arranged for Paul to pick him up. They hit the road with no time to waste, traveling through the turmoil that had broken out in Amiens, and arrived in Doullens at 3pm to find even greater confusion. Deciding to continue on they reached Blaringhem around 7pm, where they found the 3^rd Division preparing to depart, and were told that they should report to 10^th Corps for orders. Snatching a couple of hours sleep, they departed the next morning of the 26^th March, and continued from town to town trying to find 10^th Corps. After traveling around in circles for most of the day, they were told they were now to report to 7^th Corps. At 1am in the morning they found 7^th Corps at Montigny, only to receive the scanty orders to ‘get into the angle between the Ancre and the Somme as far east as possible and stop him’ [the enemy]. Monash sent Paul back to Couturelle to pick up his batman and belongings. Shortly after daybreak on the 27^th March, Paul returned and the whole party continued on to Franvillers. A stand was made and Amiens was saved, and no doubt Paul and his uncle eventually caught up on their sleep.

At the beginning of April Eric finally headed back to France, where he was posted to No. 2 Squadron, AFC the following month. It wasn’t until the 24^th of September however, that he shot down his first enemy plane and then proceeded to tally up 5 more in the following two months. Because his ‘score’ had surpassed 5, he’d earned the right to be classed as an air ‘Ace’.

On the 1^st of June 1918 Monash was given the command of the Australian Corps and Paul & Aubrey continued as his ADCs. The successful battle of Hamel was executed the following month, and then the battle of Amiens began the final campaign of the war. The war over, Monash was offered the post of Director General of Repatriation. Before heading to England to take up the post he and Paul took a quick trip to Waterloo and Brussels, while Aubrey took the opportunity to take a couple of months leave in Paris to marry and honeymoon.

The new phase of the Monash-Simonson partnership began in England on the 1^st of December, and Aubrey rejoined them at the end of January. On the 19^th December, Eric also returned to England, and from the 10^th January 1919 to the 9^th of September he was granted leave with pay. His leave time was spent at the Boulton & Paul Aircraft Dept in Norwich. During the war the company had been building planes and it was decided to continue this practice, so they also opened a design department. What better place for an Engineering student turned pilot, to gain valuable experience before returning home.

Following in his cousins footsteps Paul also made the decision to marry. The wedding took place on the 15^th of March at the Registry Office in St George Hanover Square. His new wife Beatrice was the daughter of an Accountant, so he and Paul would have had a lot to talk about during the rest of his stay in England. Monash had been campaigning to gain some recognition for his various friends and of course his protégés, and Paul received a mention in dispatches, dated the day after his marriage. He was also awarded an OBE in 1919. The newlyweds finally embarked at the end September, sailing on the family ship Osterley along with other officers and their new wives.

Aubrey also returned on the Osterley with his wife and child, but on a later sailing in the January of 1920, after having spent 6 months in Paris with his new family.

Eric set sail for home on the 15^th of November 1919 on board the Ormonde, travelling with his uncle John; along with his Auntie Vic and cousin Bertha who had joined Monash in England after the war. Also traveling with them was General Birdwood, and they were welcomed home to Melbourne on Boxing Day.

Monash continued to look out for his nephews in post war Australia, aiding them with any problems, probably even more so for the Simonsons after the death of their parents. Max passed away in 1920, and Sarah who had suffered a heart condition since before the war, joined him 3 years later. The boys had to stand on their own however when they also lost their favourite uncle in 1931. Eric paid tribute to Monash in 1939 when he wrote a eulogistic report on him which clearly showed the ‘respect, loyalty, admiration and affection’ that he had for his uncle.

In 1923 Eric had married Olive Jenkins, who had been widowed the previous year, and they had (at least) two daughters, Leslie born 1925 and Vivienne born 1926. Vivienne was a driver with the W.R.A.N.S. 1945-46. Eric also enlisted in WW2 and served as a Squadron Leader at Air Defence HQ in Melbourne. He died in 1954 in St Kilda at the relatively young age of 60. Olive lived to see her 90^th birthday, passing away in 1985.

Paul and Beatrice had two sons, Donald born in 1920 and Robert born in 1924. Both boys enlisted in WW2, Don earning an MC at Deneki (Kokoda) in 1942, and Robert ending up a POW. Paul lost Beatrice in 1948, aged 51, and he lived to the age of 71, dying in 1966 at Malvern.

Monash’s Nephews:

Capt Eric Laudon Simonson (1894 – 1954)

Capt Paul William Simonson (1895 – 1966)

Capt Aubrey Moton Moss (1886 – 1944)

Heather (Frev) Ford, 2008