Guide to the Papers of Jock Hector, 1943-1991

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Summary

Collection number:
MS 7997
Creator:
Hector, Jock (John Kirwan), 1914-1991 and Hector, Kathleen, Mrs
Extent:
0.56 metres and (4 ms boxes + 2 sound/av carriers)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Jock Hector, National Library of Australia, MS 7997, [series/file number]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for reference. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:
Correspondence between Jock Hector and his wife Kathleen written while Hector was stationed at Milne Bay, Buna and Port Moresby in New Guinea with the 5th Division Postal Unit and the Army Education Service of the 29th Australian Infantry Brigade. The letters relate to his work lecturing for the AES and writing articles for the troops on current affairs, and contain descriptions of the local inhabitants and their customs, jungle training in Milne Bay and living conditions. The papers also include issues of 'The week' and 'Jungle news', produced for the 29th Brigade in 1943 as well as research material, correspondence and articles written in 1985 and 1986 relating to Brigadier Michael Monaghan and the capture of the port of Salamaua in New Guinea by the 29th Brigade on 11 September 1943. There is a small amount of material relating to the bombing of Darwin and cuttings and articles relating to the artist Albert Tucker.
Biographical Note:

John (Jock) Kirwan Hector was born in Hong Kong in 1914. He was educated at Scotch College, Western Australia and completed two years of Arts and Journalism subjects before joining the Perth Daily News as a copy boy and later as a cadet. In 1935 Hector left the newspaper to work on the Straits Times in Singapore. In 1936 he was chief reporter and sports editor of Penang Gazette, later moving to Shanghai and Hong Kong where he did freelance work before returning to Australia. In 1937 he rejoined the Perth Daily News where he was chief sports sub-editor and news editor.

In 1940 Hector resigned and moved to the eastern states with the idea of becoming a war correspondent. In 1941 he completed a period of military training and took a job as Darwin correspondent of a number of press agencies and newspapers, as well as editor of the Northern Standard, a twice-weekly Darwin paper. Hector witnessed the first Japanese attack of Darwin on 19 February 1942 and was the only correspondent in Darwin in the week that followed. Hector enlisted in the AIF in 1942 and was posted first to the 5th Division HQ Postal Unit outside Townsville and then to Milne Bay in New Guinea in January 1943. In New Guinea he worked as a sergeant in the Army Education Service (AES) of the 29th Brigade, producing a daily newsheet Jungle News for brigade members.

In January 1944 Hector was posted to the AES journal Salt in Melbourne, where he worked as feature writer, sub-editor and later assistant editor. In June 1946 he obtained his discharge and during 1946-50 was employed by the Defence Department as Australian correspondent for Bcon, the daily newspaper published in Japan for the British Commonwealth Occupation Force. From the 1950s until 1975 he worked in trade publications in Melbourne. Hector died in Sydney in 1991.

Provenance:

The collection was donated to the Library by Kathleen Hector in December 1991.

Container List:
Series File Box
1 1-6 1
1 7-13 2
2 1 3
3 1-3 3
4 1-3 3
4 4-6 4

Indexed terms

Names:
Hector, Kathleen, Mrs

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
The collection is available for reference.
Conditions Governing Use:
Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. Photocopying for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material. In order to publish such material, however, written permission to publish must first be obtained from the copyright holder(s).
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Jock Hector, National Library of Australia, MS 7997, [series/file number]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact:
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