Gavin Merrick Long (31 May 1901 – 10 October 1968) was an Australian journalist and

military historian Military history is the study of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to local and international relationships. Professional historians no ...

. He was the general editor of the

official history An official history is a work of history which is sponsored, authorised or endorsed by its subject. The term is most commonly used for histories which are produced for a government. The term also applies to commissions from non-state bodies includin ...

series '' Australia in the War of 1939–1945'' and the author of three of its 22 volumes.

Early life

Gavin Long was born in

Foster, Victoria Foster is a dairying and grazing town south-east of Melbourne on the South Gippsland Highway in Victoria, Australia. At the Foster had an urban population of 1,164. It is about north of the Gippsland coastline which includes Shallow Inlet, ...

, the eldest of six children of

George Merrick Long George Merrick Long, (5 November 1874 – 9 July 1930) was an Anglican bishop and educationist who served as a brigadier general in the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War. He was also involved in the establishment of Trinity ...

, a clergyman. He was educated at Trinity Grammar School where his father was headmaster, and

All Saints College, Bathurst All Saints' College was an independent, co-educational Christian college in the Anglican tradition. It was established in 1874, and closed in 2018 to merge with The Scots School, Bathurst, to form Scots All Saints' College, with campuses in an ...

. Long completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

in 1922 and worked as a teacher in 1922 and 1923. After working as a jackeroo in 1924 Long travelled to England in 1925 so that he could marry Mary Jocelyn Britten. During his time in England he worked at Australia House and was married on 5 September 1925. Two weeks after their marriage Long and his wife returned to Australia.

Journalist

After his return to Australia, Long worked as a journalist and moved between several newspapers. In 1930 he was made a senior reporter at the Melbourne ''Argus'' but was later reduced in rank due to the impact of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

on the paper. He was appointed a sub-editor at ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' in July 1931 and held this job until he was posted to the ''Heralds London office in 1938. After the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Long was a correspondent to the British Expeditionary Force in France and was evacuated from

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the C ...

in May 1940. In November 1940, he was sent to Egypt where he reported on the

6th Australian Division The 6th Division was an infantry division of the Australian Army. It was raised briefly in 1917 during World War I, but was broken up to provide reinforcements before seeing action. It was not re-raised until the outbreak of World War II, whe ...

during its campaigns in North Africa and Greece. Long was recalled to Australia in mid-1941 where he continued writing on defence matters.

Military historian

In March 1943 Long was appointed general editor of the ''Australia in the War of 1939–1945'', a 22-volume official history of Australia's involvement in the Second World War, on the recommendation of C.E.W. Bean, the editor of the ''

Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918 The ''Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918'' is a 12-volume series covering Australian involvement in the First World War. The series was edited by C.E.W. Bean, who also wrote six of the volumes and was published between 1920 ...

''. Based at the

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in wars involving the Commonwealth of Australia and some conflicts involving pe ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, he spent the remainder of the war planning the series and visiting forward areas to interview members of the Australian military. After the war Long played a key role in the official history project. As well as providing guidance to the other authors, he wrote three of the volumes in the series (''To Benghazi'' (published 1952), ''Greece, Crete and Syria'' (1953) and ''The Final Campaigns'' (1963). He retired as general editor in 1963 as the project was nearing completion and he did not believe that a full-time editor was required. Long's books were well received by reviewers and his close involvement with the other authors gave the series a unity of purpose and method. Long was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in 1953 for his services as editor of the official history. In 1956 he was awarded the Greek Gold Cross of the Royal Order of the Phoenix. Long continued to write after his retirement from the official history project. He was a research fellow with the

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

, was part of the team which produced the Australian Government's ''Style Guide'' and contributed over 90 articles to ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

''. He also wrote two further military history books, ''MacArthur as Military Commander'' (published in 1969) and ''The Six Years War'' (1973), which was a concise summary of Australia's involvement in the Second World War. ''The Six Years War'' was written well before it was published, but its publication was delayed while the final volumes in the official history series were completed. Long died of lung cancer on 10 October 1968 at his home in

Deakin, Australian Capital Territory Deakin (postcode: 2600) is a suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Development began in the 1920s, although the vast majority of the suburb was built after 1945. It is a largely residential suburb. It includes the official ...

, and was cremated.

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Gavin 1901 births 1968 deaths Australian people of World War II Officers of the Order of the British Empire Historians of World War II Deaths from lung cancer Gold Crosses of the Order of the Phoenix (Greece) 20th-century Australian historians People educated at Trinity Grammar School, Kew People from Foster, Victoria Australian military historians 20th-century Australian journalists The Argus (Melbourne) people The Sydney Morning Herald people Deaths from cancer in the Australian Capital Territory