New call to make Monash field marshal

Supporters of Sir John Monash are using Remembrance Day to push for his posthumous promotion to field marshal.

They argue that Monash, regarded by many as Australia's finest military commander, was never given his proper due.

A new book by former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer - Maestro John Monash - points the finger at Australia's World War I prime minister Billy Hughes.

Mr Fischer is not the first to claim that Monash was held back in military and post-war civilian life because of establishment suspicion.

Monash, the son of Prussian jews who immigrated to Australia, came to prominence at a time when anti-semitism was rife.

Mr Fischer believes Monash should have been promoted to field marshall after WWI, in line with international precedent.

Parliamentary secretary Josh Frydenberg agrees, describing the new book as a call to arms on behalf of Australia's greatest citizen general.

But he also believes the political motives of Hughes had a hand in the lack of advancement for Monash.

A victorious prime minister was not in any mood to promote the then-victorious lieutenant-general to full general, fearful that Monash may move into politics, where he would have proved a formidable rival, the MP argues.

Had Hughes promoted Monash to full general it would have been possible that King George V would have promoted him to field marshal in July 1919, an honour bestowed on a number of other Allied commanders.

Monash, a favourite of the King, in August 1918 was the first soldier to be knighted on the battlefield by a serving monarch in more than 200 years.

"It must also never be forgotten that Monash continued to make a major contribution to the betterment of society after the war," Mr Frydenberg said.

He oversaw the repatriation of more than 150,000 Australian troops from Europe and was instrumental in the establishment of Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance.

Mr Frydenberg believes an act of parliament will complete the history surrounding Monash and next year, the centenary of Anzac, would be an appropriate time for that to happen.

It was at Gallipoli in 1915, that Monash first came to notice as a military commander of some note, leading the 4th Brigade.

In France, he rose through the ranks to become commander of the Australian Corps, leading the successful attack at the Battle of Amiens in 1918 which expedited an end to the war.