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Show Australian General Praises Americans for Their Valor Sir John Monash Says U. S. Soldiers "Delivered the Goods" Whenever Called Upon in Bloody Conflict. LONDON, July 20. (Correspondence (Correspon-dence of the Associated Press.) ' Australian and American soldiers are "full-blood brothers" in the opinion of Lieutenant General Sir John Monash, commander-in-chief of the Australian Aus-tralian forces in the war, because the Americans were never placed in any position, nor called upon to perform any duty, when, as the general expressed ex-pressed it in a speech here, they did not "deliver the goods." General Monash said he first reached this conclusion in the eany dawn of the Fourth of July, 191S, when, for the first time, Australian troops, fighting side by side with the Americans iu the Sornnie sector, won the battle of Hamel, and gave to the allied arms the first success they had achieved since the Germans begun their memorable advance ad-vance on March 21. "This battle was the turning point of the war," said General Monash. "It was a brilliant and unqualified success, and its effect upon the morale, both of the enemy and of our own men, was electric and startling. It became the model of all subsequent achievements in France, and it paved the way for the great counter-offensive in August. Au-gust. From the Thirty-third. The American troops engaged, the general said, were 1000 men from the Thirtv-thi fd division, commanded bv General John Bell. The Thirty-third division was then undergoing 1 raining. General Monash said he had asked and obtained permission to employ 1000 of the Americans in the battle of Hamel, but on t he eve of tho battle the permission per-mission was withdrawn. "I passed a strenuous and exciting period of two hours," continued General Gen-eral Monash. " !So far as I could learn the order originatel through some misunderstanding mis-understanding at American general headquarters as to the state of preparedness pre-paredness for battlo of this division. "I could not afford to have my battle bat-tle plans ruined at the last moment by the wil hdraw.'il of a large fraction of my assaulting infantry, so I went to my army commander and delivered an ultimatum. ulti-matum. If the Americans were not allowed al-lowed to remain in the order of battle, then t lie battle in ttie morning would lie off. Unless a decision was given by fl o'clock that evening the battle would go on witli the Americans in it as planned. We managed to intercept the commander in-chief and he gave the order. ' Carry on. ' "Those 1000 Americans covered themselves with glory, and I can pay them no greater compliment than by saying that from that dav on our Australian Aus-tralian veterans took them to their hearts as full-blood brothers." Excellent Work Done. General Monash declared that the 131st American regiment of the Thirty-third Thirty-third division, in, company with the Thirteenth Australian brigade, "fought a most gallant and successful series of actions, which resulted in the capture of Chipilly iSpur, " when the groat counter-offensive was launched by Australians Aus-tralians and Canadians in the tSotnme sector on August 8, 19.18. "This," he said, "made secure my left flank, thereby there-by enabling me to get astrido of the valley of the Somme and hunt the enemy en-emy clean out of it for twenty miles." General Monash had under his command com-mand in the closing days of the war the w hole Second American army corps, more than 60,000 men of tho Twenty-seventh Twenty-seventh and Thirtieth American divisions. divi-sions. This army, he said, overthrew the Hindenburg "defense system at its "most strongly defended point." The share of the American divisions . in these operations was characterized by General Monash as "probably the greatest single American feat of arms achieved in the whole war." The operations op-erations were completed on October 5, he said, and it was on that night that "the Germans threw up the sponge and declared their willingness to make peace ou our own terms." "Delivered the Goods." "T have been ashed over and over again to express my opinion of the American troops." General Monash continued. con-tinued. "I am not going to be so foolish fool-ish as to attempt, to do so here and now. I am only going to say in your own expressive ex-pressive vernacular that at all times and in every place where I have usetl them, the American troops 'delivered the goods. ' "You mar well believe that (his close association in war of such large bodies of Australians and Americans has erected a very real and lasting friendship between our two demoera cies. The foundations of that friendship friend-ship had already been laid many years before by the visit of the American battle fleet to Australia. "1 can assure von that Australia attaches at-taches much importance lo securing and maintaining the friendship ot' America. We look upon the Failed .States as our big brother in the 1'aril'ii'. and if any one of you has reflected on the problems prob-lems of the Pacific which are going to arise iu the fulure. he iilj Know what T mean by that oliservn I ion. ' ' |