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| Official Histories of Australia in the War of 1914–1918 | |
|---|---|
| Title | Official Histories of Australia in the War of 1914–1918 |
| Author | Charles Bean and others |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Subject | World War I |
| Genre | Military history |
| Publisher | Angus & Robertson / Australian War Memorial |
| Pub date | 1921–1942 (original series) |
Official Histories of Australia in the War of 1914–1918 are the multi-volume sanctioned account of Australia's participation in World War I, produced under the direction of Charles Edwin Woodrow Bean and published principally by Angus & Robertson and the Australian War Memorial. Commissioned after First World War armistice negotiations, the series set out to document the experiences of the Australian Imperial Force, the Royal Australian Navy, the Australian Flying Corps, and the home front in campaigns such as Gallipoli Campaign, the Western Front (World War I), and the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I.
The project originated from discussions involving Billy Hughes, Frank Tudor, Geoffrey Street, and figures at the Australian War Memorial and the Commonwealth Parliament of Australia following the Armistice of 11 November 1918 and the Paris Peace Conference, 1919. Charles Bean had served as official correspondent attached to the Australian Imperial Force headquarters and as a member of the Australian War Records Section, and he persuaded ministers including William Morris Hughes and administrators such as George Pearce to support a comprehensive official history. Funding and political oversight involved ministers in the Fisher Ministry and the Cook Ministry, while archival material flowed from the Australian War Records Section, the Imperial War Museum, the British War Office, and the National Archives of Australia. Editorial direction was influenced by contemporaries including C.E.W. Bean's correspondence with Sir John Monash, Sir William Glasgow, and Sir Ian Hamilton.
The original official series comprised twelve main volumes and several appendices published between 1921 and 1942, with contributions by authors such as Charles Bean, A. G. Butler, Henry Somer Gullett, A. F. Becke and Edgar Joseph; these covered topics from the Gallipoli Campaign to the Battle of Fromelles, the Battle of Pozières, and the Hundred Days Offensive. Supplementary volumes and parts addressed the Royal Australian Navy operational history, the Australian Flying Corps, and casualty lists derived from records held by the Department of Defence and the Australian War Records Section. Reprints and revised editions have been issued by the Australian War Memorial and university presses, with modern facsimiles and annotated editions appearing in the late 20th and early 21st centuries covering actions at Beersheba, Longueval, Bullecourt, Messines, and Amiens.
Bean and his colleagues employed primary-source methods drawing on diaries from officers such as John Monash and Monash's staff, unit war diaries from 1st Division and 2nd Division records, official despatches by commanders including William Bridges and Thomas William Glasgow, and captured German documents disseminated by the British Expeditionary Force. The editors compiled casualty returns, order-of-battle data, and maps derived from surveys by the Royal Engineers, and they consulted medical records from Sir Charles Wright and reports by Sir David Bruce. The narrative integrated battlefield chronology with strategic analysis referencing the Western Front, the Sinai and Palestine campaign, and diplomatic context provided by Lloyd George and Georges Clemenceau in relation to Paris Peace Conference, 1919 outcomes. Cartography, official photographs from the Australian War Memorial Collection, and appendices of nominal rolls supported Bean's blend of operational detail and human testimony.
The series begins with mobilization and training at depots such as Camp Riverview and moves through the Gallipoli Campaign, where detailed accounts treat landings at Anzac Cove, fighting at Chunuk Bair, and withdrawals coordinated with figures like Sir Ian Hamilton. Western Front volumes examine actions at Pozières, Mouquet Farm, Polygon Wood, and the Battle of Passchendaele, addressing tactics employed by commanders including John Monash and adversaries such as Erich Ludendorff. The Middle Eastern volumes cover the Sinai and Palestine campaign, addressing the cavalry battles at Beersheba and the capture of Jerusalem under commanders like Sir Harry Chauvel. Naval and air volumes document operations by the Royal Australian Navy in the North Sea and the development of the Australian Flying Corps at locations like Fleurbaix and Abu Tellul. Social and administrative appendices survey enlistment statistics, casualty lists, medical case studies, and the work of organizations such as the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia and the Australian Red Cross.
Contemporary reviews in outlets connected to the Melbourne Herald and the Sydney Morning Herald praised the series for its detail while some commentators tied critique to debates led by veterans' groups like the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia and politicians including John Christian Watson. Historians such as Keith Hancock, Henry Reynolds, and Bill Gammage have assessed Bean's editorial choices, while military scholars at institutions like the Australian War Memorial, University of Sydney, and Australian National University have used the series as foundational text for studies of leaders such as John Monash, William Bridges, and James Harold Cannan. The official histories shaped commemorative practices at sites including Lone Pine Cemetery, Villiers-Bretonneux, and Beersheba Monument, and influenced later official histories of conflicts like the Second World War series and analyses by the Imperial War Museum.
Postwar supplements included casualty appendices, nominal rolls, and corrigenda issued by the Australian War Memorial and additions by historians like A. G. Butler and G. P. Walsh. Twentieth- and twenty-first-century initiatives produced annotated editions, thematic studies on the Gallipoli Campaign and the Western Front, and digital projects hosted by the Australian War Memorial and the National Archives of Australia that cross-reference unit diaries, personnel files, and photographs. Related monographs by authors such as Les Carlyon, Peter Stanley, Jean Bou, and Graham Seal expanded or revised interpretations of battles like Pozières and the Battle of Hamel, while doctoral theses at Monash University and University of New South Wales have re-evaluated sources and methodologies used by Bean and his successors.
Category:Books about World War I