Official History, 1914-18 War: Biographical and other research files

The series contains files of biographical and research information
collated by Dr C E W Bean, Official Historian 1914-18 War, and his
research assistant John Balfour. The files have been kept in three
distinct sections. Section A contains biographical files collated
for use in the Official History. Section B consists of biographical
files containing copies of correspondence and printed material.
Section C contains biographical files of old boys and staff of Wesley
College Melbourne who saw active service, compiled by John Balfour.

SECTION A

This section contains files of biographical information collected to
assist with the preparation of footnotes in the Official History that
refer to military personnel. The files are arranged alphabetically
by name and generally contain correspondence, newspaper and magazine
cuttings and copies of records of service. The comprehensiveness of
files varies greatly. Most of the correspondence is the direct
result of circular letters sent by Bean to servicemen or their next
of kin. These letters include information such as name, rank, unit,
branch of service (AIF, RAN, AN&MEF etc), decorations, place and date
of birth, town or district which they wished to be identified with
and profession or calling before the war. Each letter is annotated
with the volume and page number of the Official History in which the
individual's name is mentioned. The replies to these circular
letters vary considerably in detail. Some letters provide the answer
to the circular questions, others include more details of the
individual's career before, during and after the war. Bean also
circularised prominent civilians for information about themselves and
their war efforts and careers.

Many files contain extracts from records of service. These provide
additional information such as dates of promotions, units served
with, campaigns, date of termination of appointment or death, date of
wounds received, educational qualifications and previous service with
armed forces. The files may also include copies of newspaper and
magazine articles about particular individuals. The newspaper
cuttings are mainly biographical articles or obituaries. Copies of
other articles are usually from magazines published by service
organisations, eg the NSW RSSILA's journal "Reveille" and "Stand To".
Some files also contain articles compiled by staff writers from
personal reminiscences of former colleagues. These articles are
either by or about the person on whom the file was collected and
cover many facets of Australian service in the war, with the emphasis
on the frontline soldier.

A single number system A1 to A977 has been imposed on this section.
Cards in AWM140, Official History, 1914-18 War, biographical cards
stamped "File" are represented in this section of the series.

SECTION B

These files consist of copies of correspondence, circulars and
newspaper and magazine articles, collected from 1928 to 1942 by Dr
Bean. Most of the material contains biographical information of
those who served in the 1914-18 War and in the early years of the
1939-45 War. The correspondence consists of letters circularised by
Dr Bean that received no reply, and letters that received replies
during 1941 to 1942 when the Official History was almost complete.
The newspaper cuttings are from a variety of sources and generally
contain obituaries or articles written about service personnel or
military events. In a few cases they contain copies of prose written
by non-military personnel. The magazine articles are from the
"Australian Women's Weekly" or "Reveille". They include biographical
articles written by staff or service personnel and articles on
various general topics relating to the war. For example the file for
Dorling, H T contains an article on "War and Other Medals" and that
for Durrant, J M A contains an article on "The Discipline of
Australians", both from "Reveille".

A single number system B1 to B21 has been imposed on this section.
Item B1 includes an alphabetical listing of names mentioned in the
"Australian Women's Weekly" articles. Items B2 to B21 have been
allocated an alphabetical category. In each case name of service
personnel mentioned or author of an article is also listed
alphabetically.

SECTION C

For most of his working life Balfour used his spare time to collect
material for a history of the wartime service of old boys of Wesley
College Melbourne, where he himself had been educated. The files in
this section contain biographical information on old boys and masters
of Wesley College, who participated in the 1885 Sudan campaign, the
War in South Africa and the 1914-18 War. Balfour compiled the files
from about 1935 to 1951, in much the same way as the section A files
were put together. They vary greatly in detail and content.

Balfour first obtained details from the school roll for each old boy
thought to have had war service. The details include the school
number, name, next of kin, address, date and place of birth, and in
some cases the date of entry to the school and academic achievements.
Balfour then compiled biographical details from various other
sources including school and university magazines, newspaper and
magazine articles, record of service publications from universities
and places of employment, battalion histories, "Who's Who in
Australia" and "Reveille". Extracts and cuttings from these
publications are included in the files. The details recorded include
name, occupation, date and place of birth, service particulars, date
of termination of appointment or date and place of death.

From some of the files, it is clear that Balfour also sought
information from the old Wesley Collegeans, their next of kin, or
previous place of employment by correspondence. The purpose of this
correspondence was to discover whether names of those who saw war
service were omitted from the school Honour Roll and to obtain
additional biographical information regarding the war services of old
boys. The correspondence varies in content from copies of letters
that received no response to lengthy replies detailing the
individual's war service.

A single number system C1 to C129 has been imposed. The files are
arranged alphabetically by name within each item except for one
general file, item C1. Balfour also included cards in AWM140 for
many of these individuals. However the cards relating to them are
not stamped with "file" as they have been for section A. Another
related series is AWM249, Wesley College, Melbourne, biographical
cards.

Sections A and B of the series were transferred by Bean to the
Australian War Memorial by 1946 (AWM93, 419/8/1 PART 1). The
transfer of section C is not documented. The post 1946 additions to
the files are mostly printed articles following the careers of former
soldiers and obituaries, and have probably been made by Memorial
staff.

• AWM43 A532 - [Official History, 1914-18 War: biographical and other research files:] MacGregor P B, MacGregor R I C, McGregor R S, McGregor W A, MacGregor-Davies W J, McGuffie J J (?), McGuigan H R Y, MacGuire H G S, McGurie J C McGuire M A, McGuire N J
• AWM43 A664 - [Official History, 1914-18 War: biographical and other research files:] Palfreyman A E, Palliser A J, Palmer A D, Palmer A J, Palmer C H, Palmer G R, Palmer H H, Palmer H L, Palmer J H, Palmer O, Palmer P E
• AWM43 A706 - [Official History, 1914-18 War: biographical and other research files:] Prior H K, Prior J G, Prior J H, Prior S H, Prior W H, Prisk R C G, Pritchard D,m Pritchard G, Pritchard J H, Pritchard L B
• AWM43 C6 - [Official History, 1914-18 War: biographical and other research files:] Apperly F L, Archbold S, Archer G E, Armstrong W L, Arthur W L, Arthur G G, Ashby R L K, Ashe R M, Ashford T E S, Atkinson C B, Atkinson G A P
• AWM43 A26 - [Official History, 1914-18 War: biographical and other research files:] Angwin B, Annand F W G, Annear A O, Annear H N, Annear W R, Annoni J, Anquetil HS, Ansell F, Anson H, Anstey F, Anthon D H, Anthony H C, Anthony H L, Antill J M
• AWM43 A388 - [Official History, 1914-18 War: biographical and other research files:] Holt J, Holt N R, Holthouse R A, Holton E G, Holtsbaum W, Holyman I N, Holyman V C, Homan A H, Homan H M M, Homburg H , Home A F, Homer H W