Bryan Gandevia Prize awarded at Australian War Memorial

On 20 April 2012, The Australian War Memorial presented the inaugural Bryan Gandevia Prize for Australian Military-Medical History to Dr David Henderson, La Trobe University.

Dr Henderson was awarded $5,000 for his PhD thesis “The Internment of Germans in Second World War Australia: An Exploration in History and Memory”.

Dr Karl James, the Memorial’s Military Historian said “The thesis successfully internationalized Australian history, placing the events of the First World War into a broader international context”.

Henderson will be using the prize money to publish his PhD thesis.

The award was presented by Professor Simon Gandevia, the son of Bryan Gandevia, for whom the award was named.

The Bryan Gandevia Prize will be awarded biennially for outstanding honours, masters or doctoral thesis on a significant subject in Australian military history.

The prize will assist scholars in the early stages of their research careers and may be used to assist with publication of their work or to further their research interests.

Background

Bryan Gandevia (1925-2006) graduated in medicine from the University of Melbourne in 1948. Immediately following his graduation, Gandevia enlisted in the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps.

From 1967 to 1983, Gandevia served on the Australian War Memorial Board of Trustees and subsequently as a member of the Council of the Australian War Memorial

Bryan Gandevia was a vigorous advocate of historical scholarship within the Memorial and he actively promoted the development of research and publication in Australian military history.