Hereafter: Memory, Commemoration, and the Great War at the Australian War Memorial in the Interwar Period

Abstract

This thesis considers how families engaged with memory-making and with the state in the aftermath of the Great War, focusing on engagement between Australian families and the Australian War Memorial in the interwar period. In Australia, the process of writing the official histories of the Great War began soon after the Armistice, drawing from the letters, diaries, and documents of those who had experienced the conflict. From 1927 to the mid-1930s, the Memorial actively reached out to families whom it was believed might hold records of use to this work. This thesis is based in the archives of the Memorial, and is focused on the records of correspondence between families and the institution in response to this request for donations. 2454 enquiries were directed to the next-of-kin of war dead. While most of the recipients of these donation requests had no direct experience of the conflict, they remained profoundly affected by its results. This series of communication presents a body of work that explores the process of transition from "memory" to "history", incorporating archival histories, memory studies, and material culture. This research considers the role of this file series as an archival resource, but also as testimony to the generational impact of loss. Respondents were conscious that donated records would continue to be used by future generations after the conflict had left living memory. Many of those contacted failed to respond, or declined to donate, but their influence lingers in the spaces of the Memorial. The experiences of these families are embedded in the histories produced by the Memorial, and are crucial to understanding how commemoration of the Great War in Australia has evolved.