George James Odgers (29 March 1916 – 2008) was an Australian soldier, journalist and military historian. Odgers served in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

as a private soldier and non-commissioned officer; and later in the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

becoming a

group captain Group captain (Gp Capt or G/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries that have historical British influence. Group cap ...

. He was one of the authors 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 includi ...

of Australia in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, ''

Australia in the War of 1939–1945 ''Australia in the War of 1939–1945'' is a 22-volume official history series covering Australian involvement in the Second World War. The series was published by the Australian War Memorial between 1952 and 1977, most of the volumes being edi ...

''.

Early years

Odgers was born in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia, on 29 March 1916. He was the youngest of eight children and the first of his parents' children to be born in a hospital. The family struggled financially through the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, but Odgers was able to attend

Perth Boys High School Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) is a contemporary visual and performance arts venue located in a heritage-listed building in Perth, Western Australia. History 1896–1959: Schools The building at 53 James Street, which dates from 1 ...

and later worked his way through the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

and

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

where he completed a master of arts. After completing university Odgers started working at the ''

Melbourne Argus ''The Argus'' was an Australian daily morning newspaper in Melbourne from 2 June 1846 to 19 January 1957, and was considered to be the general Australian newspaper of record for this period. Widely known as a conservative newspaper for most of i ...

'' in 1940. He left the newspaper to enlist in the

(RAAF) later that year. After completing some air crew training he was ruled out of flying duties on medical grounds and instead joined the Army's Australian Imperial Force. As a member of the Army he served in the

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

and

Borneo Campaign The Borneo campaign or Second Battle of Borneo was the last major Allied campaign in the South West Pacific Area during World War II to liberate Japanese-held British Borneo and Dutch Borneo. Designated collectively as Operation Oboe, ...

s, reaching the rank of

sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

. Following the war Odgers was successful in joining the RAAF and spent time with Australian forces during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War, was a guerrilla warfare, guerrilla war fought in Federation of Malaya, Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Arm ...

and

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, eventually rising to the rank of

. During his time in the Air Force he was a member of the RAAF War History Section.

Military historian and journalist

Shortly after the end of the war

Gavin Long Gavin Merrick Long (31 May 1901 – 10 October 1968) was an Australian journalist and military historian. He was the general editor of the official history series '' Australia in the War of 1939–1945'' and the author of three of its twenty- ...

selected George Odgers to be one of the authors of the air series of ''Australia in the War of 1939–1945'', starting his career as a military historian. Odgers' first book was a history of No. 77 Squadron RAAF in the

entitled ''Across the Parallel'', which was published in 1952. His volume of the official history, ''Air War Against Japan 1943–1945'', was published in 1957 and covered the RAAF's operations in the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

from 1943 onwards. The official history was followed by ''The Royal Australian Air Force'' (1965), ''The Golden Years'' (1971) and ''Mission Vietnam'' (1974). All of these works were guided by his experiences in the RAAF and successfully appealed to a popular audience "without sacrificing either detail or rigour". Odgers worked as a defence journalist in parallel with his career as a military historian. After the ''Argus'' closed in 1956 he was hired by the fledgling television station

GTV-9 GTV is a commercial television station in Melbourne, Australia, owned by the Nine Network. The station is currently based at studios at 717 Bourke Street, Docklands. GTV-9 is the home of the Australian Open tennis coverage. History GTV-9 was ...

and worked in its news production team. He moved to ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' in 1960 as a special writer focusing on defence issues. Odgers married Elizabeth Garrod in 1954 and the couple had two children. In 1965 Odgers became the head of public relations for the Department of Air and subsequently the RAAF. He held this position until 1975 when he became Director of Historical Studies and Information in the Department of Defence. Odgers retired from the Department of Defence in 1981 but continued working as a historian. He published illustrated histories of the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

, Air Force and Army in 1982, 1984 and 1988 respectively. His two volume history of Australia's involvement in 11 wars, ''Diggers'', was published in 1994. His last work was a biography of

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Wing commander is immediately se ...

Dick Cresswell Richard Cresswell, DFC (27 July 1920 – 12 December 2006) was an officer and pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He held command of No. 77 (Fighter) Squadron twice during World War II, and again during the Ko ...

, ''Mr Double Seven'', which found a publisher shortly before his death in early 2008 at the age of 91. Odgers was the last living member of the 14 historians who wrote ''Australia in the War of 1939–1945'' and was survived by two of his siblings, his wife and sons and their five grandchildren.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odgers, George 1916 births 2008 deaths Australian Army soldiers Australian military personnel of the Korean War Australian military personnel of the Malayan Emergency Australian military personnel of the Vietnam War Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Australian Army personnel of World War II Royal Australian Air Force officers Historians of World War II 20th-century Australian historians 20th-century Australian journalists The Argus (Melbourne) people Military personnel from Perth, Western Australia