War correspondent, 1938-1952

Component identifier:

Series 14

Content Summary:

Comprises Items 1-478 and papers added to the collection in 1986 and 1987.

Newspaper cuttings and a transcript of a radio broadcast document Slessor's appointment as Australian Official War Correspondent with the AIF in 1940. The series contains a wide range of papers, such as identification cards, books of regulations and orders, and typed instructions. In addition, there are articles in Sydney and Melbourne newspapers written by Slessor in his capacity as War Correspondent. They date from 1940 to 1944 and cover the activities of the AIF in Britain in 1940, the battle of El Alamein, and the war in New Guinea. Handwritten notes and typescripts of articles also deal with those topics, as well as other aspects of Australia's participation in World War II. Three albums belonging to Slessor contain negatives and the corresponding prints of photographs taken when he was Official War Correspondent. They show various locations in Greece, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Libya, 1941-1942, and a small number were taken in New Guinea in 1943. Larger prints of some of these photographs are also included in this series, together with photographs of Slessor taken in Sydney in 1940, Cairo in 1941, Tel Aviv and El Alamein in 1942, and New Guinea in 1943. In 1944 Slessor resigned from his position as Official War Correspondent and the series contains newspaper cuttings and photocopies of letters relating to his resignation.

Folders 7-8 contain 34 of Slessor's original war diaries and notebooks, covering the period 23 April 1940 to 5 May 1943, largely documenting incidents in Britain, Greece, Syria, Egypt and the Middle East. Much of this material has been transcribed and published in Clement Semmler's The war diaries of Kenneth Slessor, official Australian correspondent 1940-1944 (St Lucia, Qld: UQP, 1985). Whilst the diary entries can often be traced to earlier notes, the notebooks also include information not included in the diaries, such as lists of names, sketch maps, plans of action and first-hand accounts. Slessor's notes are often in shorthand.

Slessor's official despatches can be found in Folders 9-11. Again most of this material (and more that is not amongst these papers) has been published by Semmler in The war despatches of Kenneth Slessor : official Australian correspondent 1940-1944 (St Lucia, Qld: UQP, 1987).

Immediate source of acquisition:

The papers of the poet and journalist Kenneth Slessor were offered to the National Library by his brother Robin Slessor, executor of the will, after his death in 1971. The National Library purchased the papers in 1972. Eight additional consignments of papers received by the Library between 1979 and 2000 were variously purchased from Robin Slessor, Paul Slessor and Peter Elder.

Names:

Slessor, Kenneth, 1901-1971

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