 |
This is a list of Australian diarists of World War I including Australian servicemen and women, other Australians associated with the armed forces, and those who remained in Australia.
|
This is a list of Australian diarists of World War I including Australian servicemen and women, other Australians associated with the armed forces, and those who remained in Australia.
Many soldiers chose to keep a diary to document their personal experiences during the conflict. [2] Regulations forbade the practice of individual soldiers keeping diaries in front line positions, yet the practice was apparently not uncommon. [3] Individual diaries were officially forbidden because their capture by the enemy could yield valuable intelligence regarding unit identification, troop movements, etc. [4] Individual diaries had to be portable and easily hidden. Many were approximately 9.5 by 15 centimetres (3.7 in × 5.9 in), which made them small enough to fit in a chest pocket. [5] Next of kin were often listed. [5] While the original diaries were handwritten, many soldiers later rewrote or typed their diary [6] : 152 with some also publishing their work. Most diaries were kept by the soldier or their family. Military units were required to keep official records, [7] which are also referred to as War Diaries. [8] These records cover operations and planning, administration, and personnel. [8] They were updated on a daily basis. [9] These records are now at the Australian War Memorial. [10]
Many diaries were retained by the soldier or their family, however some of the surviving diaries are held in the collections of Australian cultural institutions including the Australian War Memorial, [11] National Archives of Australia, [12] State Library of New South Wales, [13] State Library of Queensland, [14] State Library of South Australia, [15] and State Library of Victoria. [16] [17] The Australian War Memorial and the State Library of New South Wales were the first in Australia to attempt to collect war diaries on a large scale. [6] : 134 The urge to collect these documents reflected contemporary understandings of history and research, which emphasised the role of primary sources and saw history as a science instead of an art. [6] : 138 While the Library prioritised original documents over copies, [6] : 137 the Memorial instead collected both original documents and copies. [6] : 149
William Ifould, Principal Librarian at the Public Library of New South Wales (later State Library of New South Wales), [18] led a collecting drive which began within six months of the conclusion of the war. [6] : 136 [19] : 90 Ifould arranged for advertisements in newspapers across Australia offering to buy relevant papers for the Library, [20] [21] [22] and also reached out to soldiers through the Returned Soldiers' Association of New South Wales. [6] : 137 Efforts focused on diaries documenting training and active service, [19] : 92 with accounts recorded "at the moment" or as soon after as possible considered the most useful. [6] : 141
The Memorial aimed to document the whole of Australia's war experience, initially focusing on published sources and the official records of the war. [6] : 142 The Memorial began collecting personal documents including diaries in 1927. [6] : 142 It was Arthur Bazley, historian Charles Bean's assistant at the Memorial, who suggested using the addresses recorded in the Roll of Honour Circulars to contact next-of-kin (and, later, servicemen and women directly [6] : 149 ) to ask for diaries and personal papers to be donated. [6] : 144 John Treloar, Director of the Memorial, publicised the project and encouraged donations. [6] : 142
In total, 416,809 Australians enlisted for service. [23] Only 500 diaries were collected by the Library, despite wide advertising, while approximately one in four soldiers or families contacted by the Memorial donated material. [6] : 151
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)