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'Chester Wilmot (1911–1954) was a renowned Australian war correspondent, broadcaster, journalist and writer. Covering the first triumphant North African battles of Bardia, Tobruk and Derna, the heartbreaking disaster of the Greek Campaign, the epic struggle along the famed Kokoda Track, the momentous amphibious invasion at Normandy and the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany, his voice stood above all others during BBC and ABC broadcasts throughout WWII.
'Following the war he continued reporting and broadcasting, and published The Struggle for Europe, his classic account of the Normandy invasion and its aftermath. He was tragically killed in the crash of the BOAC Comet over Greece in 1954, returning from Australia where he had been covering the Royal Tour.
'Valiant for Truth charts Wilmot’s exceptional life as he reported key events of the twentieth century. It contains the most complete account to date of the command crisis in New Guinea in 1942 and his extraordinary feud with Australian Commander-in-Chief General Sir Thomas Blamey. Bestselling authors Neil McDonald and Peter Brune unite to tell the story in this, the first full biography of one of the most important correspondents of WWII.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Four Years Reporting the War
2017
single work
review
— Appears in: Quadrant , November vol. 61 no. 11 2017; (p. 73)
— Review of Valiant for Truth : The Life of Chester Wilmot, War Correspondent 2016 single work biography'Like many people, Chester Wilmot experienced a short period that defined who he was and determined the rest of his life. This period was the four years he spent as a war correspondent. However, there was a second unpleasant undercurrent that affected his work and his life: this was his dispute with the Australia Commander-in-Chief over what Wilmot saw and General Blamey's misconduct, poor military judgement and political machinations for his own benefit.' (Introduction)
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'Valiant For Truth: The Life of Chester Wilmot, War Correspondent' by Neil McDonald with Peter Brune
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 390 2017; 'Chester Wilmot was blessed with the professional reporter’s principal virtues, talent, self-confidence, resilience, and luck. While his skills as a broadcaster took him to the various fronts of World War II, it was luck, as much as planning, that put him in Tobruk, Greece, and on the Kokoda Track at the precise moments to witness Australia’s armed forces in their first critical tests of the war. Yet if luck played its part in gifting him proximity to the action, it was his artistry, his ability to inform and enthral his listeners, to bring them to the ‘tip of the spear’, that transformed his accounts of, respectively, a siege, a rout, and a fighting withdrawal into epic adventures of the nation at war. When, at General Thomas Blamey’s insistence, Wilmot was stripped of his accreditation and sent home from New Guinea in November 1943, he turned this personal and professional crisis into a triumph, resurrecting his career in London where he reported on the fighting in Europe for the BBC’s nightly War Report.' (Introduction)
-
Four Years Reporting the War
2017
single work
review
— Appears in: Quadrant , November vol. 61 no. 11 2017; (p. 73)
— Review of Valiant for Truth : The Life of Chester Wilmot, War Correspondent 2016 single work biography'Like many people, Chester Wilmot experienced a short period that defined who he was and determined the rest of his life. This period was the four years he spent as a war correspondent. However, there was a second unpleasant undercurrent that affected his work and his life: this was his dispute with the Australia Commander-in-Chief over what Wilmot saw and General Blamey's misconduct, poor military judgement and political machinations for his own benefit.' (Introduction)
-
'Valiant For Truth: The Life of Chester Wilmot, War Correspondent' by Neil McDonald with Peter Brune
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 390 2017; 'Chester Wilmot was blessed with the professional reporter’s principal virtues, talent, self-confidence, resilience, and luck. While his skills as a broadcaster took him to the various fronts of World War II, it was luck, as much as planning, that put him in Tobruk, Greece, and on the Kokoda Track at the precise moments to witness Australia’s armed forces in their first critical tests of the war. Yet if luck played its part in gifting him proximity to the action, it was his artistry, his ability to inform and enthral his listeners, to bring them to the ‘tip of the spear’, that transformed his accounts of, respectively, a siege, a rout, and a fighting withdrawal into epic adventures of the nation at war. When, at General Thomas Blamey’s insistence, Wilmot was stripped of his accreditation and sent home from New Guinea in November 1943, he turned this personal and professional crisis into a triumph, resurrecting his career in London where he reported on the fighting in Europe for the BBC’s nightly War Report.' (Introduction)
