Papers on Wilfred Burchett, 1951-98

Component identifier:

Series 12

Content Summary:

The Australian foreign correspondent Wilfred Burchett (1911-1983) was known for his first hand reports from Asian battlefields. His most famous article was the account of the devastation of Hiroshima caused by the atomic bomb in 1945. Warner encountered Burchett in a number of countries. The mutual antipathy between the two men was well known and is recalled in some detail in Warner's book Not always on horseback.

In 1969 Burchett sued the Herald and Weekly Times Limited and Denis Warner in the Supreme Court of Victoria for publishing a defamatory article (published on 4 February 1969). The article contained the statement Wilfred Burchett wanted to come home after the Korean War to hand over details of germ warfare to the Australian Government. His offer was refused. In his biography, Not always on horse back, Warner wrote that the Court found that the article was defamatory but was a fair report published for the information of the public of the proceedings in the Senate.

The series contains notes, cuttings, photocopies, affidavits, summaries of interviews, correspondence and court orders relating to Wilfred Burchett, germ warfare and the Burchett v Kane case (1973).

Immediate source of acquisition:

The papers were donated to the National Library by Denis and Peggy Warner under the Cultural Gifts Program in 1999.

Names:

Denis Warner

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