Notebooks and diaries, 1938-53

Component identifier:

Series 7

Content Summary:

This series contains nine pocket diaries (1938, 1944-52); seven desk diaries (1948-53); an address book (1944-); and 87 notebooks (1940-53). 72 of these notebooks relate to World War II and were created by Wilmot either in his capacity as a war correspondent or after the War in his capacity as a war historian. These war notebooks cover the Mediterranean campaigns, 1941; the Pacific War and the New Guinea campaign, 1942; the western front, 1944-45; and the Nuremberg trials, 1945-46. The notebooks from the early 1950s relate primarily to NATO and military matters.

Immediate source of acquisition:

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.

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