Australian War Correspondent's Jacket
European Theater
(Australia)
While unfortunately not attributed to one specific reporter, this jacket is a unique example of what some Australian correspondents wore while serving in the European Theater. The construction of the jacket is a British war economy pattern with distinct wooden buttons. The shoulder slips identify the wearer as an "Australian War Correspondent" and appear to be a very rare British-made bullion variant. Currently, the only other example of similar slips are from Australian correspondent Major Frederick J. Howard, housed at the Australian War Memorial. The jacket is lined with a khaki material and shows some very faint pen marks above the inside breast pocket. As a reporter, the wearer of this jacket was constantly writing notes or interviewing various subjects, and would've likely been taking his pen in and out of this pocket frequently. Additionally, due to the British construction of both the jacket and shoulder slips, it's very likely that this correspondent spent a significant portion--if not all--of his time reporting in Europe.
A British-made Australian correspondent's jacket
A British-made Australian correspondent's jacket
Pen marks visible above the inside pocket, seen through photo editing software
A British-made Australian correspondent's jacket
Entering the war on the side of the United Kingdom in 1939, Australia saw action in both Europe and the Pacific throughout the entirety of the war. From the very beginning, Australian correspondents were right next to the troops in nearly every engagement. Similar to the US and England, correspondents from Australia came in the form of independent journalists, news corporation reporters, or government-appointed correspondents--the first two still technically considered civilians. Despite some correspondent's non-military status, many still reported directly from the front lines as photographers, cameramen, journalists, artists, film makers, or radio reporters. In Europe, some of the first action that Australian correspondents saw came from the Allied North African and Middle Eastern campaigns.
Despite being in a warzone, correspondents weren't trained to be soldiers, and as such reflected their unique situation and reported the heartbreaking sights they saw in their writing and photographs. The battle of El Alamein in Egypt, a costly victory for the Allies that began to turn the tide in North Africa, is one of the many battles in Europe that correspondents reported on. Famous Australian poet Kenneth Slessor, who became a government-appointed correspondent during the war, wrote after the battle: "the road to ruin runs from Alamein to Gambut and points west. It is ruin, literal and absolute, a corridor of dusty death...this continuous mortuary of burnt metal and buried men." Another famous Australian correspondent, Damien Parer, became a stills and motion picture photographer for the Commonwealth Department of Information during the war in 1940. Parer was dedicated to showing the real war as it happened, not staging scenes to make fictional stories as some film makers from other nations did. His journey began with troops in Libya, Greece, and Syria, and later moved to the Pacific in 1942. His footage from New Guinea, used in the newsreel "Kokoda Front Line!," became the first Australian film to win an Oscar in the US in 1943. Soon after, Parer became a war correspondent with Paramount Studios and began filming American troops. Despite only carrying a camera, correspondents still faced enemy fire and many were wounded while reporting. Damien Parer unfortunately lost his life on Peleliu in 1944, walking backwards to film Marine's faces as they advanced towards a Japanese machine gun. Fellow Australian correspondent Kenneth Slessor said about his death: "Damien Parer died with a camera in his hand, but his death was as certainly the death of a fighting man as if he had held the trigger of a rifle."​
Australian correspondents in Paris, 1945, showing the use of this style jacket on the far left and far right Courtesy the Australian War Memorial
An Australian correspondent, left, wearing the same style jacket in front of Hotel Scribe in Paris Courtesy the Australian War Memorial
Australian correspondent Kenneth Slessor wearing a similar jacket Courtesy the Australian War Memorial
Australian correspondents in Paris, 1945, showing the use of this style jacket on the far left and far right Courtesy the Australian War Memorial
While some Australian correspondents began covering the Pacific after the North African campaign, many stayed in Europe and continued to bring news from the continent to their fellow Australians. Many continued to report right next to troops in the fields and skies of mainland Europe, a technique that became known as "foxhole journalism." In one such instance, Australian correspondents Alf King and Norm Stockton went along with three American journalists in various RAF bombers during a raid over Berlin in 1943. Immediately they were faced with the brutal aerial combat over mainland Europe; Stockton didn't survive when his plane was shot down and King was barely able to jump out of his own and make it back to England. Another Australian correspondent, Godfrey Blunden, was a journalist for the Sydney Daily Telegraph who found himself in Stalingrad, Normandy, Holland, Belgium, and Germany throughout the war.
Like their counterparts from other nations, Australian correspondents played a vital role in raising support for the war effort as well as keeping the public up to date with timely information on the current state of the war. Often overlooked in their role, Australian war correspondents consistently put their lives on the line with little to defend themselves in the middle of the battlefield. To show appreciation for their part not just in WWII, but in all conflicts, the Australian War Memorial dedicated a distinct memorial to Australian war correspondents in 2015. According to the organization, "The War Correspondents Memorial honours the journalists, photographers, film and sound crews, writers and artists who have travelled to war zones to record the horrors of battle and the Australian experience of war." The site is built in a circular gash in the ground with a black granite oculus shape in the center, meant to represent the lens of a camera or eye of a journalist. Along the edge of the oculus, the following is inscribed:
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AMID DANGERS KNOWN AND UNKNOWN WAR CORRESPONDENTS REPORT WHAT THEY SEE AND HEAR. THOSE WORDS AND IMAGES LIVE BEYOND THE MOMENT AND BECOME PART OF THE HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA.
The Australian War Correspondents Memorial in Canberra Courtesy the Australian War Memorial
The oculus of the Australian War Correspondents Memorial
A plaque at the Australian War Correspondents Memorial
The Australian War Correspondents Memorial in Canberra Courtesy the Australian War Memorial