2nd AIF Headquarters (Middle East), registry records

Accession Number	AWM63
Collection type	Official Record
Object type	Official Record
Conflict	Second World War, 1939-1945
Copyright	Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain This item is in the Public Domain
Copying Provisions	Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction.

Description

2nd AIF Headquarters (Middle East), registry records:

This series is the only extant series of correspondence files from an overseas 2nd AIF headquarters' registry of the 1939-45 War in the Australian War Memorial's Official Records collection. It covers correspondence between branches and divisions of the 2nd AIF Headquarters, Middle East and Army Headquarters, Melbourne. Three distinct (but overlapping) file classification systems were used:

Series 1 (Class 500/- files) : 4 October 1940 to 22 February 1942
(Contents: 28 August 1936
22 February 1942)

Series 2 (Class 100/- files) : 28 November 1940 to 27 April 1942
(Contents: same)

Series 3 (Class 1/- files) : 25 October 1941 to 24 January 1943
(Contents: 21 July 1941 to
4 February 1943)

Many files (particularly from Series 2) were lost at sea during transit to Australia. The processed portion of the series (4.2 shelf metres as at December 1993, ex MP 137/1) primarily includes files relating to individual cases of military discipline - courts martial and courts of enquiry involving mainly non-commissioned officers and other ranks. However, some files relate to general organisation and administration of the headquarters. It is assumed that the unprocessed portion (4.5 shelf metres, ex MP 137/2) is more widely representative, being "box file" copies of the missing part of the headquarters registry. About 30 feet of records (ex MP 137/1) were also destroyed following an Army Board of Survey in July 1955. The remainder of the records were transferred to the Memorial in early 1956 (a smaller consignment was transferred in 1971). It was originally proposed to reconstitute the Middle East Headquarters registry from the "box file" copies (this would require more detailed appraisal of the records before proceeding). The processed portion of the series shows evidence of top numbering (eg 77/1/995 to 77/1/1473, 60/500/98 to 68/500/20). Otherwise, it has not been established exactly why the headquarters used the three separate series concurrently. Some information about the non-extant portion of AWM63 can be found in the related registration booklets (AWM241).