Chester Wilmot
Encyclopedia
Reginald William Winchester Wilmot (21 June 1911 – 10 January 1954) was an Australia
n war correspondent
who reported for the BBC
and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
during the Second World War
. After the war he continued to work as a broadcast reporter, and wrote a well-appreciated book about the liberation of Europe. He was killed in the crash of a BOAC Comet
over the Mediterranean Sea
.
, a suburb of Melbourne
; he was the son of Reginald "Old Boy" Wilmot, a well-known sports journalist. He studied history, politics and law under Sir Ernest Scott at the University of Melbourne
, where he also became interested in debating
; after he graduated in 1936, he went on an international debating tour. One of the stops was in Nazi Germany
where he went to a Nuremberg Rally
. Wilmot began to work as a legal clerk in 1939.
, Greece
and Syria
; he was in Tobruk
during the siege of 1941
. When Japan
entered the war, Wilmot returned to Australia, then went out to cover the war in the Pacific
. He reported from Papua during the Japanese invasion in 1942, including the Kokoda Track campaign
, where he walked the whole length of the track. Wilmot regarded the General Sir Thomas Blamey
as incompetent and protested at his sacking of Lieutenant General Sydney Rowell
; in return, Blamey cancelled Wilmot's accreditation and he had to return to Sydney
.
, flying in a glider with the 6th Airborne Division. He was present reporting from the field for most of the actions during the liberation of Europe. When the German high command surrendered
, Wilmot was present to report on it.
wrote, "Wilmot effectively invented the modern method of writing contemporary military history"). One of his articles criticizing the Allied plan to occupy Germany appeared in LIFE Magazine.
Wilmot intended to write a volume on the Siege of Tobruk
and Battle of El Alamein
for the Australian official history of the war until he was killed in the Comet crash; see Australia in the War of 1939–1945.
. For Christmas 1953, Wilmot was sent by the BBC to Australia to participate in a round-the-world broadcast on Christmas Day, where he narrated "The Queen's Journey", telling the story of recent royal visits. The Queen herself was in New Zealand
for Christmas.
when his plane, a Comet 1
, broke up following explosive decompression
over the Mediterranean Sea; all aboard were killed.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n war correspondent
War correspondent
A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories firsthand from a war zone. In the 19th century they were also called Special Correspondents.-Methods:...
who reported for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After the war he continued to work as a broadcast reporter, and wrote a well-appreciated book about the liberation of Europe. He was killed in the crash of a BOAC Comet
BOAC Flight 781
On 10 January 1954, British Overseas Airways Corporation Flight 781 a de Havilland DH.106 Comet 1 registered G-ALYP, took off from Ciampino Airport in Rome, Italy, en route to Heathrow Airport in London, England, on the final leg of its flight from Singapore...
over the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
.
Early life
Wilmot was born in BrightonBrighton, Victoria
Brighton is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 11 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Bayside. At the 2006 Census, Brighton had a population of 20,651...
, a suburb of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
; he was the son of Reginald "Old Boy" Wilmot, a well-known sports journalist. He studied history, politics and law under Sir Ernest Scott at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
, where he also became interested in debating
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
; after he graduated in 1936, he went on an international debating tour. One of the stops was in Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
where he went to a Nuremberg Rally
Nuremberg Rally
The Nuremberg Rally was the annual rally of the NSDAP in Germany, held from 1923 to 1938. Especially after Hitler's rise to power in 1933, they were large Nazi propaganda events...
. Wilmot began to work as a legal clerk in 1939.
War reporter
The outbreak of the Second World War when he had worked as a law clerk for only a few months led Wilmot to join the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He was sent to the Middle East in 1940 and reported from North AfricaNorth Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
; he was in Tobruk
Tobruk
Tobruk or Tubruq is a city, seaport, and peninsula on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District and has a population of 120,000 ....
during the siege of 1941
Siege of Tobruk
The siege of Tobruk was a confrontation that lasted 240 days between Axis and Allied forces in North Africa during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War...
. When Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
entered the war, Wilmot returned to Australia, then went out to cover the war in the Pacific
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
. He reported from Papua during the Japanese invasion in 1942, including the Kokoda Track campaign
Kokoda Track campaign
The Kokoda Track campaign or Kokoda Trail campaign was part of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign consisted of a series of battles fought between July and November 1942 between Japanese and Allied—primarily Australian—forces in what was then the Australian territory of Papua...
, where he walked the whole length of the track. Wilmot regarded the General Sir Thomas Blamey
Thomas Blamey
Field Marshal Sir Thomas Albert Blamey GBE, KCB, CMG, DSO, ED was an Australian general of the First and Second World Wars, and the only Australian to date to attain the rank of field marshal....
as incompetent and protested at his sacking of Lieutenant General Sydney Rowell
Sydney Rowell
Lieutenant General Sir Sydney Fairbairn Rowell, KBE, CB was an Australian soldier who served as Chief of the General Staff from 17 April 1950 to 15 December 1954...
; in return, Blamey cancelled Wilmot's accreditation and he had to return to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
.
BBC work
There Wilmot wrote a book about his experiences in Tobruk, and narrated a documentary film called Sons of the ANZACs. In 1944 Wilmot transferred to the BBC where he was one of the principal reporters for D-DayOperation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
, flying in a glider with the 6th Airborne Division. He was present reporting from the field for most of the actions during the liberation of Europe. When the German high command surrendered
German Instrument of Surrender, 1945
The German Instrument of Surrender was the legal instrument that established the armistice ending World War II in Europe. It was signed by representatives of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht and the Allied Expeditionary Force together with the Soviet High Command, French representative signing as...
, Wilmot was present to report on it.
Military historian
After the end of the war Wilmot remained in England, where he wrote articles on the recent war as well as a book about World War II, The Struggle for Europe. When it appeared in 1952, the book was favourably reviewed, and it is well regarded by military historians (John KeeganJohn Keegan
Sir John Keegan OBE FRSL is a British military historian, lecturer, writer and journalist. He has published many works on the nature of combat between the 14th and 21st centuries concerning land, air, maritime, and intelligence warfare, as well as the psychology of battle.-Life and career:John...
wrote, "Wilmot effectively invented the modern method of writing contemporary military history"). One of his articles criticizing the Allied plan to occupy Germany appeared in LIFE Magazine.
Wilmot intended to write a volume on the Siege of Tobruk
Siege of Tobruk
The siege of Tobruk was a confrontation that lasted 240 days between Axis and Allied forces in North Africa during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War...
and Battle of El Alamein
Second Battle of El Alamein
The Second Battle of El Alamein marked a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. The battle took place over 20 days from 23 October – 11 November 1942. The First Battle of El Alamein had stalled the Axis advance. Thereafter, Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery...
for the Australian official history of the war until he was killed in the Comet crash; see Australia in the War of 1939–1945.
Broadcaster
Wilmot was part of the television commentary team for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth IIElizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
. For Christmas 1953, Wilmot was sent by the BBC to Australia to participate in a round-the-world broadcast on Christmas Day, where he narrated "The Queen's Journey", telling the story of recent royal visits. The Queen herself was in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
for Christmas.
Death
Wilmot was en route back to Britain from that assignment on BOAC Flight 781BOAC Flight 781
On 10 January 1954, British Overseas Airways Corporation Flight 781 a de Havilland DH.106 Comet 1 registered G-ALYP, took off from Ciampino Airport in Rome, Italy, en route to Heathrow Airport in London, England, on the final leg of its flight from Singapore...
when his plane, a Comet 1
De Havilland Comet
The de Havilland DH 106 Comet was the world's first commercial jet airliner to reach production. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland at the Hatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom headquarters, it first flew in 1949 and was a landmark in aeronautical design...
, broke up following explosive decompression
Explosive decompression
Uncontrolled decompression refers to an unplanned drop in the pressure of a sealed system, such as an aircraft cabin and typically results from human error, material fatigue, engineering failure or impact causing a pressure vessel to vent into its lower-pressure surroundings or fail to pressurize...
over the Mediterranean Sea; all aboard were killed.
Books
- Tobruk 1941, Capture - Siege - Relief, Angus & Robertson Ltd, 1945.
- The Struggle For Europe (written in part by Christopher Daniel McDevitt), 1952. Reissue: Wordsworth Editions Ltd, Ware, Hertfordshire, 1997. ISBN 1853266779.