Early in 1917 Charles Edwin Woodrow Bean, Official War Correspondent during World War I, recommended to the Australian Government that it produce an official history of the war and establish a national war memorial.
The Australian Government supported the idea, and discussed with British authorities the question of Australian Imperial Force (AIF) records being transferred from the War Office to AIF headquarters in London. The War Office agreed on condition that copies of the official service diaries and appendices be provided to the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. The Australian War Records Section was established in London, under Lieutenant J L Treloar, to take care of the records and to supervise the collection of future war diaries and correspondence. These collections were later housed at the Exhibition Building in Melbourne from 1922-24 and in Sydney from early 1925.
In 1918 the Australian Government established the Australian War Museum Committee. Although the Committee hoped that Bean would become the first director of the Memorial, as well as official historian, Bean realised he could not undertake both tasks. He supported the appointment of Henry Gullett who became Director in August 1919 with J L Treloar as his head of staff. When Gullett resigned in May 1920, Treloar took over as Director. He held the position until his death in 1952, with the exception of the period he spent as Secretary to the Department of Information during the 1939-45 War. Gullett remained associated with the Memorial as a member of the Board of Management until his death in August 1940. Bean, Gullett and Treloar were, therefore, the men who moulded the future of the Memorial. (M Browne and J Williams, A Museum as a Memorial, Australian War Memorial, History Publications Section, pp 2-5.)
From February 1922 the Committee began to use the title (Australian) National War Memorial rather than Australian War Museum. However, it was only on 26 September 1925 that the Australian War Memorial Act (No 18 of 1925), providing for the establishment of the Australian War Memorial, was passed. Its Board of Management consisted of not more than twelve members, to be appointed by the Governor-General for four years but eligible for re-appointment. Since the Australian War Memorial was known as the Australian War Museum before its formal establishment its organisation structure was as follows:
Director: J L Treloar, OBE
Chief of Clerk: T H E Heyes
Board of Management: Major-General the Hon, Sir T W Glasgow,
KCB, CMG, DSO, Minister for Home and
Territories (Chairman);
Major-General the Hon. Sir Neville Howse, VC,
KCB, KCMG, MP, Minister for Defence;
Major the Hon C W C Marr, DSO, MC, MP;
Rear Admiral W R Napier CMG, DSO, RN;
Lieutenant-General Sir H G Chauvel, GCMG, KCB;
Lieutenant-General Sir John Monash, GCMG,
KCB, VD;
Major-General Sir C B B White, KCMG, KCVO, CB,
DSO;
Colonel D C Cameron, CMG, DSO, MP;
H S Gullett, Esq, MP
Mr Justice Ferguson;
C E W Bean
(Federal Guide, Oct 1926, p 24)
On Anzac Day 1929 the War Memorial was formally inaugurated in Canberra with building operations commencing in 1933. It was opened to the public on 11 November 1941, although movement of the records from Melbourne to Canberra had commenced in late 1935 when stage one of the building, the library had been completed.
On 4 December 1962 under the Australian War Memorial Act 1962 (No 85 of 1962) the Board of Management was replaced by a Board of Trustees. It was a corporate body which assumed all the powers of the former Board of Management in addition to having responsibility for its own property.
Construction of new wings on the eastern and western sides of the building commenced in July 1968 and were completed in 1971.
Mr W R Lancaster, the former Assistant Director of the War Memorial, who has acted as Director since the retirement of Major J J McGrath, OBE was appointed Director in September 1966.
A Bill to amend the Australian War Memorial Act 1962-1973, received the assent of the Senate and House of Representatives on 21 April 1975. The 1975 Act now enabled the commemoration at the War Memorial of Australians, other than members of the Services, whose deaths were attributable to any war or war-like operations in which Australians had been on active service. It brought within the scope of the Australian War Memorial Act those Australians who served in the forces of other Commonwealth countries or with Allied forces, those who were members of the Australian Merchant Navy, or who were civilians who served with Australian forces, eg representatives of the Australian Red Cross, Australian Comforts Fund, Young Men's Christian Association, war correspondents and photographers.
On 13 January 1975, Mr N J Flanagan became Director. He was a former Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Special Minister of State and Deputy Commissioner-General of the Australian Exhibit Organisation for Expo '74 at Spokane, Washington, USA.
According to the recommendations of overcoming the deficiencies of the Australian War Memorial some improvements occurred in the following years. Guided tours by volunteers were established in 1976. Although the construction of a conservation centre for the Memorial was to commence in 1977 it seems it only began in 1978. It was completed in June 1979 when the conservation section of the Australian War Memorial moved into three of its seven laboratories. The Memorial's education section was established in February 1978 when two education officers were seconded from the Commonwealth Teaching Service to the staff of the Memorial.
The proclamation of the Australian War Memorial Act 1980, effective from 1 July 1980, left unaltered the primary purpose of the Memorial, which is to preserve the memory of Australian Servicemen and women who have died on or as a result of active service.
Prior to the 1980 Act, the Memorial faced problems concerning the general administration of the collection and aspects of its copyright because ownership of a substantial part of the collection was vested in the Commonwealth. The Memorial had previously only had ownership of items acquired after 1962, but the 1980 Act gave it ownership of the whole collection.
The 1980 Act allowed the Memorial to collect and display material on events leading up to conflicts, on their aftermath and with the effects of war on the home front. The Memorial would also research and disseminate information on Australian military history, and would continue to encourage the already considerable interest evinced by scholars and researchers in this subject. The new Act also gave the Council more specific powers in the field of education.
The proposed new organisational structure under the 1980 Act would regroup the Memorial's activities into four branches; Collections, Public Programs, History and Publications, and Management Services.
The 1980 Act also established the Council of the Australian War Memorial under Section 9 of the Act. The Council is responsible for the conduct and control of the affairs of the Memorial and the policy of the Memorial with respect to any matters determined by the Council. The Council consists of between ten to thirteen members including the Chiefs of Staff of the Navy, Army and Air Force.
The Australian War Memorial is required under Section 36 of the same Act to submit an Annual Report to the Minister for Veterans' Affairs.
The Official War Historian:
In 1943 the position of Official War Historian was placed within the Australian War Memorial where it still remains. Records produced by the Official War Historian are kept as Australian War Memorial records so the Official War Historian is not a record-creating agency.
The following people have held the position of Official War Historian:
1919-1942: Charles Edwin Woodrow Bean (CP 467), Official War
Historian for World War I (CA 7039)
1943-1963: Gavin Merrick Long (CP 468), Official War Historian for
World War II
1969- ? : Robert (Bob) John O'Neill, Official War Historian for Korean War
(CA 7041)
1983- : Peter Geoffrey Edwards, Official War Historian for Australia's
Involvement in Southeast Asian Conflicts (CA 7042)
Sources
Who's Who in Australia, 1950, 1965, 1974, 1983
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol 7, pp 226-227
Annual Report 1996-97, Australian War Memorial, p 10
Historical agency address
Treloar Crescent, Campbell ACTLegislation administered
Australian War Memorial Act 1980
Superior agency unregistered
1963- : Board of Trustees of the Australian War Memorial