Description of series:

Function and purpose

This series consists of 17 boxes comprising paper documents that relate to suspected acts of disloyalty perpetrated by individuals and organisations within Queensland. These documents refer to elements of society that were suspected of undermining Australia's position during World War I. The actions taken by Military Intelligence were done so under the War Precautions Act. 

Included in the series are personal letters, official memoranda, secret orders, written reports, diaries and newspaper cuttings, all relating to people or groups considered potentially disloyal. These documents relate to events and issues such as interned Aliens, alleged acts of disloyalty, meetings, group demonstrations and enemy sympathisers. Organisations mentioned include the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World), OBU (One Big Union Propaganda League), Germans in the Queensland community and the Russian Association The documents were created by the Department of Defence, Military Intelligence Section.

3 items (66/4/390 Part 1 – 3)from the series were withdrawn permanently in October 2005. These were papers of Major F W Toll originally donated by the State Library of Queensland, concerning the occupation of German New Guinea by Australian and New Zealand Forces during the first world war. Upon review, it was decided these papers did not belong in the series and they were returned to the State Library of Queensland.

Finding Aids

As of June 2005, all the records in this series are on the Archives database RecordSearch at item level.


Administrative information
 
The following data was keyed from the paper documentation:
Form number:              CA 17
Creating department:      , DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE, , MILITARY                           INTELLIGENCE SECTION
Transferring department:  , ATTORNEY GENERAL'S, COMMONWEALTH
                          INVESTIGATION SERVICE,
Date of transfer:         21/02/1951
Archives file number:     RWB7/1/4