Collections

Collection Guides

The Army Museum of Tasmania collections are focused on the military history of Tasmania and the wartime experiences of Tasmanians and those who have called Tasmania home. The Collection Guides provide a detailed outline to the records and collections held by the Museum. Further information on these records and collections can be gained by contacting the Army Museum of Tasmania. The development of the Collection Guides has been supported by Arts Tasmania through their Cultural Heritage Program

– Lieutenant Colonel Cyril St Clair Cameron Collection Guide

– Lieutenant Colonel Donald Cameron Collection Guide

– Lieutenant Colonel E. T. Watchorn Collection Guide

– Major George Cochrane Collection Guide

– Lance Sergeant Basil Cox Collection Guide

– Major Augustus Oliver Woods Collection Guide

– Staff Sergeant Arthur John Stagg Collection Guide

Diaries

A series of diaries from the First World War have been digitised and are available for download. They give first hand insights into the experiences of the men and women who served.

Ruth E. BADDELEY
Autograph and Sketch Book (28 pages, 13.4 MB, PDF)

Alfred Percival BROWN
A.I.F. Gift Diary, 1918 (95 pages, 45.6 MB, PDF)
A.I.F. Gift Diary, 1919 (100 pages, 39.6 MB, PDF)

Francis Burr BROWN
Diary, 1917-19 (61 pages, 33 MB, PDF)

James Hoskin CLENNETT
Vol.1 – Australian Handy Diary, 1915 (196 pages, 82.3 MB, PDF)
Vol.2 – British Red Cross Diary, 1916 (100 pages, 47.3 MB, PDF)
Vol.3 – Note Book, 1917 (63 pages, 36.1 MB, PDF)
Vol.4 – Woods Australian Diary, 1918 (71 pages, 35.1 MB, PDF)

Alice GORDON KING
August 1914-16, uses Nurses Diary 1913-14 (218 pages, 173 MB, PDF)

Arthur John LOVETT
Diary, 1917-19 (53 pages, 26.8 MB, PDF)

Burford SAMPSON
Vol.1 – Personal Memorandum Book, Feb-Mar 1915 (85 pages, 130 MB, PDF)
Vol.2 – Army Book 152, August 1918 (35 pages, 28.8 MB, PDF)
Vol.3 – Army Book 136, April-June 1919 (26 pages, 21.7 MB, PDF)
Vol.4 – Field Messages Book August 1918 (44 pages, 29 MB, PDF)
Vol.5 – Field Message Book, June-Oct 1917 (34 pages, 15.3 MB, PDF)
Vol.6 – Noteook, 3 Jan 1916 (159 pages, 83.4 MB, PDF)
Vol.7 – Indexed Diary, 10th April 1915 (51 pages, 57.8 MB, PDF)
Vol.8 – Diary, 01-01-1918 to 03-02-1919 (200 pages, 86.2 MB, PDF)
Vol.9 – Diary, 25-04-1915 to 05-1916 (81 pages, 59.3 MB, PDF)

Herbert William SHAW
Diary, 1918-19 (50 pages, 31.2 MB, PDF)

Oral Histories

On the 23rd February, 1942, Sparrow Force, which included members of the Tasmanian 2/40th Battalion, were captured by the Japanese in West Timor. These men were taken to various POW camps in Asia and some eventually ended up working on the Thai – Burma railway.

In 2017, 75 Years later, historian Peter Henning interviewed one of only two (at that time) remaining survivors of Sparrow Force, Lloyd Harding.

This is his story.

Part 1

Part 2