Papers relating to the service of Noel Murray Brazier, 1914 - 1916 - Part 4
PERSONAL RECORDS.
A.W.M. File No. L/12/11/2873
LIEUT. COLONEL N.M. BRAZIER. 1Oth A.L.H. REGT.
R.T.A.
A.W.M.
LIBRARY
Class No 181.11
WAR OF 1914-18
12/25
13/9
5
The Official War Historian of the Commonwealth
Government (Dr. C. E. W. Bean), after his study of the
collection of private war records preserved in the Australian
War Memorial Library, wrote:-
"The private diaries in this collection furnish some of its most
valuable historical records, but, like all private memoirs which were
not compiled with any historical purpose, they should not be
regarded as first-hand evidence except where it is certain that they
are so. The diarist is almost always sincere in his desire to record accurately, but he is subject to no obligation or inducement to
indicate whether he is recording his own observations or incidents
told him by friends or heard at third or fourth hand at the mess-table.
Thus, in some of the diaries in this collection, scenes described with
vivid detail, and without any warning that they are told at second
or third hand, have been found to be completely inaccurate in
important details. A certain number also have been written up
or revised long after the events, though doubtless usually from notes
made at the time. In most cases the student must rely on his
experience and on internal evidence to guide him in judging what is
and what is not likely to be historically accurate."
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