Lebanon, 1967-1983

Component identifier:

Series 13

Content Summary:

In 1967 Forsyth was appointed the first Australian Ambassador to Lebanon with the task of establishing the Australian Embassy in Beirut. He arrived in Lebanon just before the outbreak of the Six-Day War in 1967. This series contains official reports, cables, personal and official correspondence, political despatches from Beirut and a series of 'crisis diaries' documenting the Six-Day War. This was Forsyth's last and most difficult posting with the Department of External Affairs. After returing to Canberra at the beginning of 1969 he took most of that year on sick leave before retiring in October 1969. Personal and official correspondence contained in this series shows the strain of ill health, the pressures of the war and the difficulties of setting up the Australian embassy.

The correspondents include Russell Forsyth, Joy Forsyth, Sir James Plimsoll, Peter Lawlor, D.J. Kingsmill, Francis Stuart, Torrance Doig and Keith Brennan.

Immediate source of acquisition:

The papers were donated to the Library in several small instalments during the 1970s and 1980s and one large instalment after Forsyth's death in March 1993.

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