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Gavin Long

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Gavin Long
Gavin Long.jpg
Gavin Long in May 1943
Born
Gavin Merrick Long

(1901-05-31)31 May 1901
Died10 October 1968(1968-10-10) (aged 67)
AwardsOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (1953)
Gold Cross of the Order of the Phoenix (1956)
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Sydney
InfluencesCharles Bean
Academic work
InstitutionsAustralian War Memorial
Main interestsAustralian military history
Second World War
Notable worksAustralia in the War of 1939–1945

Gavin Merrick Long OBE (31 May 1901 – 10 October 1968) was an Australian journalist and military historian. He was the general editor of the official history series Australia in the War of 1939–1945 and the author of three of its 22 volumes.

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Early life

Gavin Long was born in Foster, Victoria, the eldest of six children of George Merrick Long, a clergyman. He was educated at Trinity Grammar School where his father was headmaster, and All Saints College, Bathurst.

Long completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Sydney in 1922 and worked as a teacher in 1922 and 1923. After working as a jackeroo in 1924 Long travelled to England in 1925 so that he could marry Mary Jocelyn Britten. During his time in England he worked at Australia House and was married on 5 September 1925. Two weeks after their marriage Long and his wife returned to Australia.

Journalist

After his return to Australia, Long worked as a journalist and moved between several newspapers. In 1930 he was made a senior reporter at the Melbourne Argus but was later reduced in rank due to the impact of the Great Depression on the paper. He was appointed a sub-editor at The Sydney Morning Herald in July 1931 and held this job until he was posted to the Herald's London office in 1938.

After the outbreak of the Second World War, Long was a correspondent to the British Expeditionary Force in France and was evacuated from Boulogne in May 1940. In November 1940, he was sent to Egypt where he reported on the 6th Australian Division during its campaigns in North Africa and Greece. Long was recalled to Australia in mid-1941 where he continued writing on defence matters.

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Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression (1929–1939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagion began around September and led to the Wall Street stock market crash of October 24. It was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century.

The Sydney Morning Herald

The Sydney Morning Herald

The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the Herald is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia and claims to be the most widely-read masthead in the country. The newspaper is published in compact print form from Monday to Saturday as The Sydney Morning Herald and on Sunday as its sister newspaper, The Sun-Herald and digitally as an online site and app, seven days a week. It is considered a newspaper of record for Australia. The print edition of The Sydney Morning Herald is available for purchase from many retail outlets throughout the Sydney metropolitan area, most parts of regional New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and South East Queensland.

British Expeditionary Force (World War II)

British Expeditionary Force (World War II)

The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was the name of the contingent of the British Army sent to France in 1939 after Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany on 3 September, beginning the Second World War. The BEF existed from 2 September 1939 when the BEF GHQ was formed until 31 May 1940, when GHQ closed down and its troops reverted to the command of Home Forces. During the 1930s, the British government had planned to deter war by abolishing the Ten Year Rule and rearming from the very low level of readiness of the early 1930s. The bulk of the extra money went to the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force but plans were made to re-equip a small number of Army and Territorial Army divisions for service overseas.

Boulogne-sur-Mer

Boulogne-sur-Mer

Boulogne-sur-Mer, often called just Boulogne, is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the Côte d'Opale, a touristic stretch of French coast on the English Channel between Calais and Normandy, and the most visited location in the region after the Lille conurbation. Boulogne is its department's second-largest city after Calais, and the 183rd-largest in France. It is also the country's largest fishing port, specialising in herring.

6th Division (Australia)

6th Division (Australia)

The 6th Division was an infantry division of the Australian Army. It was raised briefly in 1917 during World War I, but was broken up to provide reinforcements before seeing action. It was not re-raised until the outbreak of World War II, when it was formed as a unit of the Second Australian Imperial Force. Throughout 1940–41 it served in the North African Campaign, the Greek campaign, on Crete and in Syria, fighting against the Germans, Italians and Vichy French. In 1942, the division left the Middle East and returned to Australia to meet the threat of Japan's entry into the war. Part of the division garrisoned Ceylon for a short period of time, before the division was committed to the New Guinea campaign. In New Guinea, its component brigades had a major role in the successful counter-offensive along the Kokoda Track, at Buna–Gona and around Salamaua–Lae in 1942–43. Throughout late 1943–44, the division was re-organised in Australia before being committed as a complete formation to one of the last Australian operations of the war around Aitape–Wewak in 1944–45.

Military historian

Long (front row, second from right) with the other authors of the official history series at a meeting in 1954
Long (front row, second from right) with the other authors of the official history series at a meeting in 1954

In March 1943 Long was appointed general editor of the Australia in the War of 1939–1945, a 22-volume official history of Australia's involvement in the Second World War, on the recommendation of C.E.W. Bean, the editor of the Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918. Based at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, he spent the remainder of the war planning the series and visiting forward areas to interview members of the Australian military.

After the war Long played a key role in the official history project. As well as providing guidance to the other authors, he wrote three of the volumes in the series (To Benghazi (published 1952), Greece, Crete and Syria (1953) and The Final Campaigns (1963). He retired as general editor in 1963 as the project was nearing completion and he did not believe that a full-time editor was required. Long's books were well received by reviewers and his close involvement with the other authors gave the series a unity of purpose and method. Long was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1953 for his services as editor of the official history.[1] In 1956 he was awarded the Greek Gold Cross of the Royal Order of the Phoenix.

Long continued to write after his retirement from the official history project. He was a research fellow with the Australian Dictionary of Biography, was part of the team which produced the Australian Government's Style Guide and contributed over 90 articles to The Canberra Times. He also wrote two further military history books, MacArthur as Military Commander (published in 1969) and The Six Years War (1973), which was a concise summary of Australia's involvement in the Second World War. The Six Years War was written well before it was published, but its publication was delayed while the final volumes in the official history series were completed.

Long died of lung cancer on 10 October 1968 at his home in Deakin, Australian Capital Territory, and was cremated.

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Charles Bean

Charles Bean

Charles Edwin Woodrow Bean, usually identified as C. E. W. Bean, was Australia's official war correspondent, subsequently its official war historian, who wrote six volumes and edited the remaining six of the twelve-volume Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918. He was the foundational force and primary advocate in establishing the Australian War Memorial (AWM). According to the Online International Encyclopedia of the First World War, no other Australian has been more influential in shaping the way the First World War is remembered and commemorated in Australia.

Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918

Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918

The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918 is a 12-volume series covering Australian involvement in the First World War. The series was edited by C.E.W. Bean, who also wrote six of the volumes and was published between 1920 and 1942. The first seven volumes deal with the Australian Imperial Force while other volumes deal with the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force at Rabaul, the Royal Australian Navy, the Australian Flying Corps and the home front; the final volume is a photographic record.

Australian War Memorial

Australian War Memorial

The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in wars involving the Commonwealth of Australia and some conflicts involving personnel from the Australian colonies prior to Federation. Opened in 1941, the memorial includes an extensive national military museum.

Canberra

Canberra

Canberra is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest Australian city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory at the northern tip of the Australian Alps, the country's highest mountain range. As of June 2021, Canberra's estimated population was 453,558.

Order of the Phoenix (Greece)

Order of the Phoenix (Greece)

The Order of the Phoenix is an order of Greece, established on 13 May 1926, by the republican government of the Second Hellenic Republic to replace the defunct Royal Order of George I.

Australian Dictionary of Biography

Australian Dictionary of Biography

The Australian Dictionary of Biography is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's history. Initially published in a series of twelve hard-copy volumes between 1966 and 2005, the dictionary has been published online since 2006 by the National Centre of Biography at ANU, which has also published Obituaries Australia (OA) since 2010.

The Canberra Times

The Canberra Times

The Canberra Times is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times.

Deakin, Australian Capital Territory

Deakin, Australian Capital Territory

Deakin is a suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Development began in the 1920s, although the vast majority of the suburb was built after 1945. It is a largely residential suburb. It includes the official residence of the Prime Minister, The Lodge, and the Royal Australian Mint.

Source: "Gavin Long", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 22nd), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavin_Long.

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Notes
  1. ^ "LONG, Gavin Merrick". It's an Honour. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 30 September 2008.
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