Records of the Directorate of Military Operations and Plans (DMO & P)

Accession Number AWM121
Collection type Official Record
Object type Paper document
Maker Commonwealth Government of Australia
Date made 1935-1981
Conflict Malayan Emergency, 1948-1960
Indonesian Confrontation, 1962-1966
Vietnam, 1962-1975
Copyright

Item copyright: Commonwealth of Australia copyright

Description

This series of records was created by the Australian Army’s Directorate of Military Operations and Plans (DMO & P). Within the Department of Defence was the Army Office (previously known as Army Headquarters), of which there evolved five branches – Operations, Personnel, Materiel, Reserve and Logistics (see Palazzo, pp 291-293). Operations Branch was commanded by a Major General, while DMO & P was subordinate to Operations Branch and was commanded by a Brigadier General. DMO & P accumulated these records between circa 1952 and 1981.

The records were transferred from the Department of Defence to the Australian War Memorial in two consignments (accessioned as OW 83/15 and OW 83/16) in August and December 1983. Another small consignment arrived early in 1984 as part of OW 84/5). As a whole, the records were designated Series AWM121 by the Memorial, and registered as such on the RecordSearch database in 1990.

Content

The items in this series mainly relate to army policy and procedures during the period of Australian involvement in the Malayan Emergency, the Indonesian Confrontation, and the Vietnam War.

System of arrangement and control

The files retain their original file numbers, being a three-part alphanumeric system. The first number denotes specific topics being:

Plans
Allotment of units to plans and operational readiness
Regulations, orders, instructions, directives
Operations (including reports)
Research and development
Communications
Training
Atomic weapons
Organisation and roles
Air support
Strategic basis for defence policy (basis for planning)
Weapons/Equipment
Defence and programmes policy
Training of overseas officers in Australia
Combined Training Centre – Amphibious warfare policy
Naval support
Maritime/Shipping
Publications – Joint service
Unassigned
Unassigned
Meteorological
Exchange of information with the US
Defence plans
Unassigned
Intelligence
NBC (Nuclear-Biological-Chemical) Warfare
Civil Defence
Composition of the forces
Air staff requirements
Security
United Kingdom – Far East
Aviation
Defence expenditure
Overseas service for officers
Nuclear/Atomic testing
Unassigned
Using the series

Most items in the series were given either a Top Secret or Secret classification. In addition, many contain documents originating from other Commonwealth departments, and foreign governments or military organisations. For these reasons examination for access by the public is usually more complicated, requiring referral to those other departments or governments, and therefore more time consuming than the average examination for access process. Researchers should therefore plan ahead and put in their requests for access to items in this series at the earliest opportunity.