Talk:Iven Mackay/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: AustralianRupert (talk · contribs) 22:57, 13 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I will review this article against the GA criteria. I will try to post some comments here today, but am having some connection issues at the moment, so if it takes a couple of days please accept my apologies. Regards, AustralianRupert (talk) 22:57, 13 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

General comments

Overall, this is an excellent article. I have a few observations, not necessarily all tied to the GA criteria:

in the lead, "New Guinea Force" could be linked;
- Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 10:41, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
in the lead, "On 6 April 1942 he assumed command of Second Army" --> "the Second Army";
- Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 10:41, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
a few possible examples of overlink: Egypt, Brigadier General, Major General (Australia), University of Sydney, Colonel, Edmund Herring, Prime Minister of Australia, Commonwealth of Nations, Field Marshal (United Kingdom);
- Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 10:41, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
inconsistent caps: "he became a lieutenant" v. "He was immediately promoted to Colonel and temporary Brigadier General";
- Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 10:41, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
second commas should probably be added after states e.g "Paterson, New South Wales,";
- Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 10:41, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
"He did not deploy to Gallipoli with the battalion". Is it known why? I presume because they didn't take any transport, but maybe I'm wrong?
- Y Yes, that's right; added a bit. Hawkeye7 (talk) 10:41, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
"given command of a company in August." --> company could be wikilinked here to give lay readers an idea of what size subunit that is/was;
- Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 10:41, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
"he did not rejoin his battalion until February 1916, in Egypt". This might be a little clearer as: "he did not rejoin his battalion until February 1916, by which time it had been withdrawn back to Egypt";
- Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 10:41, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I wonder if more could be said about Mackay's actions during Pozieres. He received an MID and a DSO, so his actions seem to have been significant;
- Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 10:41, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
"He was given the brevet rank of major in the 26th Infantry Battalion on 3 June 1918". This confused me a little, wasn't he already a lieutenant colonel? Perhaps this should be clarified?
- Y No, that was in the AIF. This is in the AMF back home. Clarified. Hawkeye7 (talk) 10:41, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
"Mackay's appointment to the AIF was terminated". To the lay person "terminated" might be seen to mean "fired", when it probably wasn't the case. Perhaps it could be clarified that this was part of the demobilisation process, if that was in fact the case?
- Y Yes, that's right. Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 10:41, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
for names, I think it would be normal Australian style to only use a person's first and last names unless it was absolutely necessary, or unless the person was actually known as that. For instance, "George Alan Vasey" should probably just be "George Vasey";
- Y No, it should be "Alan Vasey". Hawkeye7 (talk) 10:41, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
"Mackay resolved to reform the battalions that had been destroyed in Greece, and to rebuild his shattered division". When did this occur? Perhaps it should be stated that this occured after the division had been evacuated to Alexandria?
- Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 10:41, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
"En route, he stopped in Singapore to confer with Major General Bennett". Perhaps add a brief clause explaining Bennett's role here?
- Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 10:41, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
"If Mackay had been in any way deceived by the grandiloquence of his". I wonder if this quote shouldn't be introduced. For instance, "According to the official historian, Dudley McCarthy..."
- Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 10:41, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
"His task was to prepare the militia" ("militia" should probably be capitalised here, as it is a proper noun in this sense);
- Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 10:41, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
"Mackay submitted a plan in which he outlined a strategy whereby the army would concentrate on the defence..." I think that some context needs to be provided here. Why did he submit this plan? I assume because he was concerned about the Japanese movement south towards Australia and was making contingencies in case of invasion?
- Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 10:41, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
"Regular officers took the opportunity to give Mackay a number of petty snubs." Why? I assume because of the tension that existed between the regulars and part-timers, but it probably needs to be explained. AustralianRupert (talk) 06:22, 14 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
- Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 10:41, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
"File:Iven Mackay.jpg": there might be a problem with the licence for this image. Unfortunately, it seems that according to the AWM, the file is still copyrighted:[1]. AustralianRupert (talk) 06:28, 14 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
- Y Longstaff died in 1941, ie before 1 January 1955. Hawkeye7 (talk) 10:41, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  - No worries, that makes sense. AustralianRupert (talk) 08:03, 18 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Criteria

It is reasonably well written.
a (prose): b (MoS):

Issues rectified above.

It is factually accurate and verifiable.
a (references): b (citations to reliable sources): c (OR):

Well referenced article, using high-quality reliable sources. No OR that I could see.

It is broad in its coverage.
a (major aspects): b (focused):

Issues rectified above.

It follows the neutral point of view policy.
a (fair representation): b (all significant views):

No issues.

It is stable.
No edit wars etc.:

No issues.

It contains images, where possible, to illustrate the topic.
a (tagged and captioned): b (Is illustrated with appropriate images): c (non-free images have fair use rationales): d public domain pictures appropriately demonstrate why they are public domain:

Overall:
a Pass/Fail: