Chester Wilmot Reports

ABC and BBC broadcaster, Chester Wilmot, is regarded as the greatest war correspondent of the Second World War. This collection of his broadcasts tells the story of the Australian and British actions in the Middle East, the tragic Greek and Crete campaigns and Kokoda, where he went up the Track, accompanied by legendary cameraman Damian Parer and Melbourne Sun correspondent Osmar White. An outstanding broadcaster and reporter, Wilmot was master of both descriptions of action and close analysis of strategy. He broadcast interviews of troops on the ground at a time when a description read by an announcer had been considered sufficient. Intense, argumentative, often dogmatic, but never personal, Wilmot was unflinching in his exposure of high command bungles. His championing of the cause of sacked New Guinea Commander, Sydney Rowell, led him into trouble, but his confidential reports on the New Guinea campaign, reported here for the first time, influenced the subsequent conduct of operations in New Guinea. These broadcasts have been newly transcribed from Wilmot's originals and are accompanied by a commentary by journalist and writer Neil McDonald. This collection will mark the fiftieth anniversary of Chester Wilmot's death.