Series number

AWM90

Series title

Australian Service Canteens Organisation records

Series contents range

30 October 1915 – 31 Dec 1979

Extent

4.2m

Access conditions

Subject to the Australian Archives Act (1983)

Agency controlling

Department of Defence

Custodial Agency

Australian War Memorial

Function and Provenance

Until the 1914, Australian service canteens were just functional derivatives of those for the Royal Navy and British Army, focused entirely on the individual ship or unit. In 1914, Army Garrison Institutes were established on ‘co-operative store’ principles (again following similar evolution in the British canteens), but in early 1915 they became part of a centralised AIF Canteens Service which operated in three sections (Australia, United Kingdom, and Egypt) until the end of 1919. The Army subsequently reverted to the pre-war institute organisation.

In October 1939, the Australian Defence Canteens Service (ADCS) was established, with a Central Canteens Control Board and a District Canteens Board for each Military District. The activities of the ADCS were intended to embrace all three services, but the RAAF and RAN effectively retained their own canteens, and the service increasingly became known as Australian Army Canteen Service (AACS). The ADCS/AACS were primarily operated by Defence personnel officially posted to the organisation, augmented by unit volunteers and sometimes by locally employed staff or spouses.

In 1957, the Moreshead Committee recommended an integrated canteen organisation for the three services. The AACS and RAAF Canteens Service were integrated in April 1959, leading to the establishment of a new organisation, the Australian Service Canteens Organisation (ASCO), from 1 July 1959. It was created by regulation under the Defence Act. RAN Canteens were associated, but only for the purpose of bulk purchase and distribution of canteen supplies. ASCO aimed to provide a canteens service for servicemen and civilian members of the Defence group and their dependants, through bulk stores, snack bars, newsagency and bank agencies as well as operated canteens. Throughout the 1960s, Army Component ASCO predominated in name and fact. It was subjected to various inconclusive reviews from the late 1960s, mainly arising from a lack of clear definition of role, gradual slippage in financial liability, and service delivery issues associated with the Vietnam War.

With the disbandment of ASCO (effected on 31 December 1979), responsibility for ADF canteens was split three ways:

• Army and RAAF static bases - to the new Army and Air Force Canteen Service (AAFCANS)
• RAN - to the RAN Central Canteens Board (within Navy Headquarters)
• Exercises and operations - to Army Materiel Branch (now Army Headquarters), with services delivered through ad hoc contract arrangements

AAFCANS, to be operated by paid civilian staff, was implemented progressively from 1979 and now services Army and RAAF bases around Australia.

The records and material contained within the Series were forwarded to the Memorial from Army headquarters, starting with a number of transfers during 1980-81. The selection of the records was made at the time of the disbandment of HQ Army Component ASCO, with a decision made to maintain them as a single Series. The last set of records (focused on the final years of ASCO) was provided by Department of Defence in 2009.

Content

The records in AWM90 are not a true series per se, but are more an incomplete collection of materiel of a historic nature. They predominantly cover the activities of the Army Component ASCO in the 1960s and 1970s, but there is much of earlier historical interest relating to its predecessors, ADCS and AACS, and, to a lesser extent, the 1914-18 War Garrison Institutes. The series includes items relating to WW2 and post-WW2 operations of the canteens organisation in Japan, Korea, Malaya, Vietnam, Singapore and Papua New Guinea, as well as Australia. AWM90 actually comprises four distinct sub-series, being a composite of unregistered 'historical' items and registered files apparently culled from more general administrative record series. The four sub-series are:

• World War 1, 1915-1921
• Interwar years, 1921-1939
• World war 2 and subsequent campaigns, 1939-1973
• The final ASCO years, 1973-1975

The contents in each sub-series varies considerably, but typically includes a mix of policy documents, administrative manuals and instructions and personal correspondence.

System of Arrangement and Control

The Series is arranged using four distinct numbering systems, reflecting the original filing systems used for the four sub-series listed above. These are:

• A 3-number set (ie, 142/1/1 – 980/1/1)
• A 3-number set, with an alphabetical prefix before the second number (ie, 100/A11/0 – 100/W3/1)
• A single number with a common prefix of WP (ie, WP1 – WP35)
• An imposed single number (ie 1 – 55)

The significance of the alphabetical prefixes employed is not apparent.

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

AWM90 Series Dossier

AAFCANS – Our History, https://www.aafcans.gov.au/what-we-do/ (accessed 30 Mar 2022)

Navy Canteens (“The Anchorage’), https://thenavysanchorage.com.au/about-us/#ourhistory (accessed 30 Mar 2022)