Guide to the Papers of Chester Wilmot, 1872-1990

Summary

Collection number:

MS 8436

Creator:

Chester Wilmot

Extent:

(55 ms Boxes + 1 folder)

Language:

English and English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Chester Wilmot, National Library of Australia, MS 8436, [series number, file number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:

This collection comprises papers of Chester Wilmot including 1. Family papers and family history research material, 1872-1990. 2. Correspondence, newscuttings and working notes relating to Wilmot's career as a broadcaster and war correspondent, 1937-54. 3. Diaries and notebooks, 1938-53. 4. Corrected scripts of broadcasts, 1940-54. 5. Correspondence/research files relating to Wilmot's work as an author/war historian, 1943-53. 6. Drafts of books "Tobruk, 1941" (1943) and "The Struggle for Europe" (1952). 7. Reviews, reactions and correspondence regarding "The Struggle for Europe", 1952-54. 8. Drafts and research material relating to Tobruk, 9. Research material, drafts and correspondence regarding to "The Struggle for Europe", 10. Reviews, reactions and corrections to "The Struggle for Europe", 11. Miscellaneous BBC broadcast scripts and correspondence and tributes after Wilmots death, 12. Family history research material, 1872-1990 collected by Edith Wilmot, 13. Biographical research material and drafts assembled by Alan and Mary Wood, 1954-?, 14. Black and white postcards featuring images of architecture from the United States of America and Europe.

Biographical Note:

Reginald William Winchester ("Chester") Wilmot was born in Melbourne on 21 June 1911, the son of R.W.E. Wilmot (journalist for the Argus) and Jane Marian Wilmot (nee Tracey). He was educated at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School from 1922 to 1930. He continued his education at Trinity College and Melbourne University where he was awarded a B.A. (History Honours) in 1935 and an LLB. in 1936. In 1936 he was President of the University's Students' Representative Council. From July 1937 to February 1939 he led the Melbourne University Debating Team on a tour of overseas universities, visiting East Asia, North America, Britain and Europe.

On his return to Australia in 1939 he became a member of the Council of Melbourne University and completed articles with the intention of joining the Bar. In 1940 he was appointed War Correspondent with the ABC Field Unit with the Australian Imperial Forces in the Middle East. During this time he reported from Palestine, Syria, Libya, Greece, Crete and the siege of Tobruk. He returned to Australia in March 1942 and married Edith Irwin, daughter of Rev. W.H. Irwin of Adelaide, in the following month. In July 1942 he accompanied the A.I.F. to New Guinea to report on the war with the Japanese. In November 1942 he was expelled from New Guinea and lost his accreditation as a war correspondent after he became involved in a dispute between General Blamey and General Rowell. He returned to Australia in time for the birth of his daughter Jane in January 1943. Throughout 1943 he worked on his book Tobruk, 1941: capture, relief (A, 1944).

In 1944 he was invited by the BBC to join its team of war correspondents covering the invasion of Normandy. After flying from Brisbane to London, he accompanied the 6the Airborne Division on its Normandy landing the night before D-Day. For the next twelve months he covered the campaign from Normandy to the Baltic. After the War he worked as BBC special correspondent at the Nuremberg trials. Thereafter he worked on various assignments for the BBC as a foreign correspondent and commentator for both radio and television. In 1952 he published his widely acclaimed book on the western front, The Struggle for Europe.

Chester Wilmot was killed in the crash of a Comet airliner over Italy in January 1954. At the time he was returning to Britain after touring Asia as Military Correspondent for The Observer and for the BBC, for whom he was examining the impact of the Communist takeover in China on the Asian region. At the time of his death he was also working as Australian Official War Historian, having been commissioned to write the volume dealing with the siege of Tobruk and the battle of Alamein. He was survived by his wife, who continued to live in their family home near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

Provenance:

This collection was presented to the National Library by Edith Wilmot in 1991 and arrived in Canberra in January 1992. It consists primarily of Chester Wilmot's papers, but also includes material added by Edith Wilmot in the years since Chester's death. A further transfer was received from the Wilmot family in 2024.

Arrangement:

When the collection was presented to the Library it was accompanied by a "catalogue" which served as a despatch list. Over half of the collection was itemised in detail on this list, with individual folders being listed in seven "files", each "file" corresponding to a drawer of a filing cabinet. This filing system probably reflects the system used by Wilmot at the time of his death, but has had some subsequent rearrangement and additions by Edith Wilmot. These seven "files" account for Series 1-6 of this collection. The folder numbering system used in the despatch list has been retained in these series. Series 4 includes all the folders from "files" 3-4, as the numbering sequence of file 4 was merely a continuation of the numbering of file 3. This explains why there were seven "files", but only six series. Not all the folders listed on the despatch list were received by the National Library. Those folders not received are listed in this guide with the annotation "not received". The despatch list includes detailed itemised lists of some parts of Series 1-6, particularly family correspondence, diary entries and individual broadcasts. Readers who wish to consult the despatch list should ask the Manuscript reading room supervisor. For most readers, however, the level of detail given in this Guide should be sufficient.

The papers in series 7-13 were not thoroughly itemised in the despatch list. Unlike the well-ordered "files", these papers had no discernible order. The order in which they have been arranged is therefore one that has been artificially devised by National Library staff.

A further transfer was received in 2024, and this material comprises series 14.

Conditions Governing Access:

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2701576).

Conditions Governing Use:

Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Chester Wilmot, National Library of Australia, MS 8436, [series number, file number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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