Who is Field Marshal Lord William Birdwood?

William Birdwood, a British officer, was appointed to command the Australian and New Zealand forces in 1914 and led the ANZAC corps on Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. It was he who prepared the plan for the landing and held the administrative command of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) for the entire war.

Throughout this time, and during the post-war period, Birdwood kept considerable official correspondence with world leaders and military commanders as well as unofficial letters from colleagues, personal friends and ordinary Australians.

Birdwood was highly respected by colleagues and adored by soldiers and their families.  A large majority of the personal correspondence could almost be compared to a current day fan club. Birdwood wrote to many families, updating them of their loved one’s illness or recovery from wounds, and sent many letters of condolence for those killed. He also wrote to the soldiers congratulating them on awards they had received.  He was a ‘go-to’ person for colleagues who needed to discuss campaigns, other colleagues or events such as the death of Lord Kitchener. 

Birdwood’s collection of nearly 10,000 documents has recently been digitised by the Memorial and is now available online.

Six handwritten diaries were compiled by Field Marshal Lord William Birdwood span from 1915 - 1920. A new quest, Personal diaries of Field Marshal Lord William Birdwood, is now available to transcribe.