Sydney Harold Deamer (1891-1962) was a
newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sport ...
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
, an
editor
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, ...
and soldier.
The son of Adrian Milford and Rhoda (née Milford) Deamer, Sydney Deamer was born on 1 December 1891 at Avondale Square, Old Kent Road,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. In 1912 he emigrated to
Australia and in 1914 enlisted in the
Australian Imperial Forces in Western Australia initially serving with the 2nd Australian Stationary Hospital,
Australian Army Medical Corps
The Royal Australian Army Medical Corps (RAAMC) is the branch of the Australian Army responsible for providing medical care to Army personnel. The AAMC was formed in 1902 through the amalgamation of medical units of the various Australian coloni ...
as a
private and
NCO at
Gallipoli and later in 1916 in the Quartermaster General's branch in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...
. He returned to England in August 1916 and was attached to Headquarters and for a time with the
Warchest Club
''Warchest'' is a box set from the American heavy metal band Megadeth. ''Warchest'' features five discs (4 CD + DVD) and features studio tracks, demos and live recordings of a number of the band's songs from its first ten studio albums and rar ...
, a residential and recreational club for troops on leave in London.
In October 1917 he was sent to officer cadet training in Reading and in January 1918 commenced basic pilot training at
Shawbury graduating in May. On completion of this training he was commissioned as a pilot officer and second lieutenant. On 30 September 1918 whilst flying over German lines he was shot in the leg by machine gun fire from the ground and invalided back to England. In early 1919 he returned to Australia "at his own expense" and resigned his
commission.
He had a distinguished career in civilian life as a journalist in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
and Australia and as a newspaper editor for the
Sydney ''
Daily Telegraph'' under the new proprietor Sir
Frank Packer between 1936 and 1939. In 1939 Deamer joined the
Australian Broadcasting Commission
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
in a public relations role. For fourteen years, Deamer wrote the much-loved
Column Eight daily feature in the ''
Sydney Morning Herald''. Sydney Harold Deamer died in the district of Brentford in Middlesex, England on 30 October 1962.
His wife, Martha ("Dolly") Clara (née Jones), predeceased him by a year. Martha died in Sydney on 30 March 1961. He was survived by sons Tom Perry Deamer, who was a documentary film producer and principal of the
alternative education ERA School in Melbourne, and
Adrian Milford Deamer, who was an early editor of ''
The Australian
''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatewat ...
'', and subsequently became legal advisor to the ''Sydney Morning Herald''.
References
External links
Australian Dictionary of Biography entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deamer, Sydney Harold
Australian World War I pilots
Australian aviators
1891 births
1962 deaths
20th-century Australian journalists
The Sydney Morning Herald people