List of Australian diarists of World War I

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (March 2014)

This is a list of Australian diarists of World War I including Australian servicemen and women, other Australians associated with the armed forces, and those who remained in Australia.

Many soldiers chose to keep a diary to document their personal experiences during the conflict.^[2] Regulations forbade the practice of individual soldiers keeping diaries in front line positions, yet the practice was apparently not uncommon.^[3] Individual diaries were officially forbidden because their capture by the enemy could yield valuable intelligence regarding unit identification, troop movements, etc.^[4] Individual diaries had to be portable and easily hidden. Many were approximately 9.5 by 15 centimetres (3.7 in × 5.9 in), which made them small enough to fit in a chest pocket.^[5] Next of kin were often listed.^[5] While the original diaries were handwritten, many soldiers later rewrote or typed their diary^[6]: 152 with some also publishing their work. Most diaries were kept by the soldier or their family. Military units were required to keep official records,^[7] which are also referred to as War Diaries.^[8] These records cover operations and planning, administration, and personnel.^[8] They were updated on a daily basis.^[9] These records are now at the Australian War Memorial.^[10]

Many diaries were retained by the soldier or their family, however some of the surviving diaries are held in the collections of Australian cultural institutions including the Australian War Memorial,^[11] National Archives of Australia,^[12] State Library of New South Wales,^[13] State Library of Queensland,^[14] State Library of South Australia,^[15] and State Library of Victoria.^[16][17] The Australian War Memorial and the State Library of New South Wales were the first in Australia to attempt to collect war diaries on a large scale.^[6]: 134 The urge to collect these documents reflected contemporary understandings of history and research, which emphasised the role of primary sources and saw history as a science instead of an art.^[6]: 138 While the Library prioritised original documents over copies,^[6]: 137 the Memorial instead collected both original documents and copies.^[6]: 149

William Ifould, Principal Librarian at the Public Library of New South Wales (later State Library of New South Wales),^[18] led a collecting drive which began within six months of the conclusion of the war.^{[6]: 136  [19]: 90} Ifould arranged for advertisements in newspapers across Australia offering to buy relevant papers for the Library,^[20][21][22] and also reached out to soldiers through the Returned Soldiers' Association of New South Wales.^[6]: 137 Efforts focused on diaries documenting training and active service,^[19]: 92 with accounts recorded "at the moment" or as soon after as possible considered the most useful.^[6]: 141

The Memorial aimed to document the whole of Australia's war experience, initially focusing on published sources and the official records of the war.^[6]: 142 The Memorial began collecting personal documents including diaries in 1927.^[6]: 142 It was Arthur Bazley, historian Charles Bean's assistant at the Memorial, who suggested using the addresses recorded in the Roll of Honour Circulars to contact next-of-kin (and, later, servicemen and women directly^[6]: 149) to ask for diaries and personal papers to be donated.^[6]: 144 John Treloar, Director of the Memorial, publicised the project and encouraged donations.^[6]: 142

In total, 416,809 Australians enlisted for service.^[23] Only 500 diaries were collected by the Library, despite wide advertising, while approximately one in four soldiers or families contacted by the Memorial donated material.^[6]: 151

• List of Australian diarists of World War I (A-G)
• List of Australian diarists of World War I (H-N)
• List of Australian diarists of World War I (O-Z)

• Australian and New Zealand Army Corps
• Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force
• First Australian Imperial Force
• Imperial War Museum – holds a collection of diaries by Australians^[24]
• Military history of Australia during World War I
• World War I in literature

• Barwick, Archie (2013). In great spirits : the WWI diary of Archie Barwick. HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 9780732297183.
• Bean, C.E.W. (1921). Official history of Australia in the War of 1914–1918. Angus & Robertson.
• Carlyon, Les (2010). Gallipoli. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 9780330426039.
• Carylon, Les (2006). The Great War. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 9781405037617.
• Cull, William Ambrose (1919). At all costs. Australasian Authors' Agency.
• Evans, Eric S. (2002). So far from home : the remarkable diaries of Eric Evans, an Australian soldier during World War I. Kangaroo Press. ISBN 9780731810680.
• Fussell, Paul (2000). The Great War and Modern Memory. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195021714.
• Gammage, Bill (1974). The Broken Years: Australian Soldiers in the Great War. Australian National University Press. ISBN 9780708102381.
• Hadfield, Arthur; McAndrew, Ian L. (1996). What did you do in the great war, dad! : the diary of sapper Arthur Hadfield, 25 October 1916 to 26 August 1919. I. McAndrew. ISBN 9780646294490.
• Kerr, Greg (2000). Private wars : personal records of the Anzacs in the Great War. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195507997.
• King, Jonathan (2010). Gallipoli diaries : the Anzacs' own story day by day. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9780731813551.
• King, Jonathan (2010). The Western Front diaries : the ANZACs' own story, battle by battle. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9780731814398.
• Noble, Robert Jackson; Noble, James C. (2004). War diaries of a veterinary sergeant : 20th October 1915–10th October 1919. James C. Noble. ISBN 9780646435084.
• Winter, Denis (1988). Death's Men: Soldiers of the Great War. Penguin Books.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Australian military personnel of World War I.

• Diary of a Nursing Sister on the Western Front 1914–1915 (anonymous)
• Europeana 1914–1918
• Gallipoli and the Anzacs
• Lives of the First World War – a project of the Imperial War Museum
• Transcript of the diary of John Evan Adlard
• Letters & diaries from World War I - State Library of Victoria
• Letters, diaries, etc. from World War I - State Library of Western Australia
• Diary and letter collections | World War One - State Library of New South Wales