Bill Gammage

Bill Gammage
Native name	William Leonard Gammage
Born	1942 Orange, New South Wales
Awards	Manning Clark Bicentennial History Award (1988) Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (1995) Queensland Premier's History Book Award (1999) Member of the Order of Australia (2005) Manning Clark House National Cultural Award (2011) Prime Minister's Prize for Australian History (2012) Victorian Premier's Prize for Nonfiction (2012) Queensland Literary Awards History Book Award (2012)
Academic background
Alma mater	Australian National University
Thesis title	The Broken Years: A Study of the Diaries and Letters of Australian Soldiers in the Great War, 1914–18
Thesis url	http://library.anu.edu.au/search~S1?/YGammage&l=&searchscope=1&b=&p=&Da=&Db=&SORT=D/YGammage&l=&searchscope=1&b=&p=&Da=&Db=&SORT=D&SUBKEY=Gammage/1%2C25%2C25%2CB/frameset&FF=YGammage&l=&searchscope=1&b=&p=&Da=&Db=&SORT=D&17%2C17%2C
Thesis year	1970
Doctoral advisor	Bruce Kent
Influences	Charles Bean
Academic work
Institutions	Australian National University (1997–03) University of Adelaide (1977–96) University of Papua New Guinea (1972–76)
Main interests	Australian history
Notable works	The Broken Years (1974) The Biggest Estate on Earth (2011)

William Leonard "Bill" Gammage AM, FASSA, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , (born 1942) is an Australian academic historian, Adjunct Professor and Senior Research Fellow at the Humanities Research Centre of the Australian National University (ANU). He was born in Orange, New South Wales, went to Wagga Wagga High School and then to ANU. He was on the faculty of the University of Papua New Guinea and the University of Adelaide. He is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences and deputy chair of the National Museum of Australia.

History studies

World War I

Gammage is best known for his book The Broken Years: Australian Soldiers in the Great War, which is based on his PhD thesis written while at the Australian National University. It was first published in 1974, and re-printed in 1975, 1980, 1981 (the year in which Peter Weir's film, Gallipoli came out), 1985 and 1990. The study revives the tradition of C.E.W. Bean, Australia's official historian of World War I, who focused his narrative on the men in the line rather than the strategies of generals. Gammage corresponded with 272 Great War veterans, and consulted the personal records of another 728, mostly at the Australian War Memorial.

He has written several other books about the experiences of soldiers in World War I, including three definitive books about Australian soldiers in the war. He also co-edited the Australians 1938 volume of the Bicentennial History of Australia (1988).

Aborigines' planning and management of Australia

In 1998, Gammage joined the Humanities Research Centre at the ANU as a senior research fellow for the Australian Research Council, working on the history of Aboriginal land management. His scope was cross-discipinary, working "across fields as disparate as history, anthropology and botany".

In the subsequent 13-year period he researched and wrote the book The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines made Australia, released in October 2011. It won the 2012 Prime Minister's Prize for Australian History in the Prime Minister's Literary Awards, the 2011 Manning Clark House National Cultural Awards in the individual category, was shortlisted for the 2012 Kay Daniels Award, the History Book Award of the 2012 Queensland Literary Awards and awarded the 2012 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards overall Victorian Prize for Literature on top of the non-fiction category prize.

Gallipoli

As a historical adviser, Gammage has worked on many documentaries and his writing is cited as an authoritative source on Australia's participation in World War I. For the film Gallipoli directed by Peter Weir, Gammage was employed as the military advisor and he worked on the text that David Williamson turned into the screen play of the film.

Local history of Narrandera

Gammage produced a historical study of the Shire of Narrandera. Gammage was made a freeman of Narrandera Shire Council in 1987.

Adelaide ANZAC Day commentary

He has been part of the Australian Broadcasting Commission Adelaide ANZAC Day Commemorative March commentary team for several years.

Awards and nominations

• 1988 – ABC/ABA Manning Clark Bicentennial History Award, for his book Narrandera Shire
• 1999 – Queensland Premier's Literary Awards, History Book Award for The Sky Travellers: Journeys in New Guinea 1938–39
• 1999 – shortlisted in the New South Wales Premier's History Awards for The Sky Travellers: Journeys in New Guinea 1938–39
• 2005 – Member of the Order of Australia (AM)
• 2011 – Manning Clark House National Cultural Award winner for The Biggest Estate on Earth
• 2012 – Prime Minister's Literary Awards, Prize for Australian History for The Biggest Estate on Earth
• 2012 – shortlisted for the Kay Daniels Award
• 2012 – Queensland Literary Awards, History Book Award
• 2012 – Victorian Premier's Literary Awards overall Victorian Prize for Literature on top of the non-fiction category prize

Publications

Books

• Interview about the book, 2011 Oct 11.

Journal articles

• (1991) ANZAC's influence on Turkey and Australia. Journal of the Australian War Memorial 18; Presented as a keynote address at the 1990 Australian War Memorial history conference

Book chapters

• — "Oral and Written Sources." In Oral Tradition in Melanesia. Ed. by Donald Denoon. Port Moresby, New Guinea: University of Papua, New Guinea and Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies. pp. 115–24.

Other work

• "Sir John Monash : a military review" (Melbourne University, 1974)
• "The story of Gallipoli" / text by Bill Gammage ; screenplay by David Williamson ; preface by Peter Weir. Ringwood, Vic. : Penguin Australia 1981) Released August 1981 as "Gallipoli.", dir. by Peter Weir

External links

• Australia in World War One, by Dr Peter Stanley
• The Sports Factor interview with Bill Gammage on ABC Radio