Series number

AWM113

Series title

Records of the Military History Section (Army)

Series contents range

15 November 1905 – 3 January 1976

Extent

17.6m

Access conditions

Subject to the Australian Archives Act (1983)

Agency controlling

Department of Defence

Custodial Agency

Australian War Memorial

Function and Provenance

This series contains a collection of original historical material collected by the Australian Army’s Historical Records Section in addition to administrative files raised within the Section.

The creation of a war records section for the Second World War was approved by Cabinet in early 1940. A Historical Records Section was consequently included in the plans for the formation of an overseas administrative headquarters for the Second AIF (Australian Imperial Force), based initially in the Middle East. However the Second AIF was not a single consolidated force, but rather a number of separate divisions operating in several diverse Theatres. This led Lieutenant Colonel J L Treloar (Director of the Australian War Memorial (AWM) and liaison officer for the AWM to the Department of Information) to recommend a revised structure. While maintaining representation at the AIF headquarters, he proposed the section should have field teams attached to each divisional headquarters. This scheme was approved by General Thomas Blamey, and the section was reorganized accordingly in June 1941 and renamed the "Military History and Information Section". The AIF headquarters team returned to Australia later the same year, leaving the Divisional teams in situ.

These changes coincided with reorganisation of the Government information and public relations structures. Publicity functions which the Section had performed in the Middle East were taken over by the Army Directorate of Public Relations and the Section was again renamed, becoming the Military Historical Section (MHS) in the General Staff Branch of Army Headquarters. Lt Col Treloar remained the Officer-in-Charge of the MHS until 1946.

The MHS's wartime functions were generally threefold:

• collect and collate historical material relating to the Army
• gather war relics for the AWM
• provide, by photography, film, art and written narratives, a comprehensive record of the day to day life of the Army.

From its headquarters in Melbourne the MHS despatched and directed the activities of the field teams. Each team consisted of an officer-in-charge, a cinematographer, a photographer and a writer. The teams collected unit war diaries and sent them to the MHS in Melbourne which registered and classified them. Other files and documents relating to strategy and operations, and considered useful for the Official Historian were collected and listed by the MHS.

The MHS was reorganized after the war, but the collection of records and relics was continued by detachments of the MHS attached to the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) and the British Commonwealth Force in Korea (BCFK). Most of the section's technical resources were transferred to Japan to undertake this work.

The section's post-war responsibilities included:

• historical research concerning the Department of the Army and the Australian Military Forces (AMF)
• policy for the preparation, retention and disposal of Army records
• liaison with the AWM, Official Historian, AMF units, public and private agencies, etc concerning historical materials
• liaison with the Commonwealth Archives Division concerning the disposal of records.

The MHS continued to operate until the early 1960's, when its archival functions were taken over by the Archives Sub-Section in AHQ Registry, and its historical and research functions by the Army History Unit.

Although initially established to collect records and relics during the Second World War, during its existence the MHS collected a significant amount of material of historical interest relating to other Australian military campaigns. This large collection of Second World War and other historical material was progressively transferred to the AWM from September 1946. The MHS was also responsible for culling and classifying an additional 9,000 boxes of "obsolete written records" between 1947 and 1951, before transferring them to the AWM.

Content

The material in this series is divided into two distinct groups, namely:

• Original historical records collected and arranged by the MHS, including unit histories, operational records, correspondence, Army administrative and policy records, press clippings, etc;
• The MHS's own administrative registry files, consisting of correspondence between the MHS and the AWM concerning the collection, acquisition, transfer, preservation of, and requests for, records. Gaps in the numbering sequence of this part of the series suggest that it might have been culled before transfer. It also includes some original historical material.

The original historical records are of a diverse nature – representing campaigns from before Federation through to the Malayan Emergency. As the collection from the MHS was received by the AWM, the bulk of the Second World War, BCOF and BCFK material was categorized into the appropriate series; for example, to AWM54 Written Records 1939-45 and to AWM85 Korea Unit War Dairies. However much of the material not relating to the Second World War, BCOF or Korea was not re-categorised and simply remained within this Series – even so, some items from those campaigns also remain. Examples of this diverse collection of material are:

• 5/1/22 The History of the Soudan Expedition 1883
• 15/1/5 Australian Contingents to the Boer War
• 15/1/6 Australian Contingent to China 1900
• 5/1/11 Early Defence Force in Victoria 1839-1901
• MH1/1 Defence of Australia 1905 (Creswell Report)
• MH1/6 & 7 Lord Kitchener – Defence of Australia 1910
• MH1/10A Ministerial Report on Universal Training to 30 Jun 1912
• MH1/15 CGS report Establishment of Aviation Force 1919
• MH1/15-78 Various files relating to Defence policy and requirements between the Wars 1919-1938
• MH1/198 BCOF History

System of Arrangement and Control

The files are arranged in three groupings, each with a different numbering system:

The original historical documents are organised in two groups:

• A single number system (1-34 Part 3), imposed by the AWM
• A two number system (MH 1/1-259), imposed by the MHS before transfer to the AWM

The MHS administrative files are arranged in a multiple number system (1/1/1-26/1/10), originally imposed by the MHS.

It should be noted that AWM84 Military History Section Registry Index Cards ostensibly would relate to the contents of AWM113; this is unfortunately not so. In fact the Registry Index cards are a rudimentary and incomplete record of indexing of items received by the MHS during 1941-46 utilizing a cataloguing system not carried through beyond that initial purpose. The Index Cards are therefore of dubious value in terms of searching the contents of AWM113.

Using the Series

Records are available to be viewed in the Reading Room at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra and more information can be found at: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/research-at-the-memorial

Further assistance in finding relevant information may be gained from related series of records (click on Series Links at the bottom of this page).

Sources

AWM113 Series Dossier