Papers of Major General William Holmes and Colonel R. J. A. Travers, ca. 1900-1950, mainly relating to World War I and Anzac Memorial Appeal

fonds

ca. 1900-1950

Textual Records, Graphic Materials, Cartographic Materials, Objects, Photographs, Clippings, Ephemera, Posters, Drawings

890550

1.16 metres of textual material (6 boxes)
755 badges
1 stamp (tool)

Major General William Holmes served in the Boer War, where he saw operations in Cape Colony, Orange Free State, and Transvaal Nov. 1899-Aug. 1900. He was wounded at Diamond Hill 12th June, 1900 and awarded the D.S.O. He commanded the 1st Australian Infantry from 1902 to 1911, was promoted to colonel and appointed to command the 6th Infantry Brigade in 1912. During WWI William Holmes commanded the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force which sailed from Sydney on HMAS Berrima,19 Aug. 1914. After the German governor surrendered Holmes became administrator of New Guinea until Jan. 1915. In March 1915 he was appointed commander of the 5th Infantry Brigade with the rank of colonel and served at the front line at Gallipoli and in France. He was killed at the Messines battlefield, 2 July 1917

Reginald John Albert Travers served with the 4th, 17th and 26th Battalions in 1916 and at the 4th Army Musketry School, Belgium, 1918. He was appointed lieutenant colonel in charge of the 26th Battalion in Nov. 1916 and served at 2nd Australian Divisional Headquarters in France, 1917 before rejoining the 26th Battalion. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, 21 Sept. 1916, mentioned in dispatches, June, July and Sept. 1917 and awarded Bar to Distinguished Service Order, 1918.

The daughter of William Holmes, Dorothy Mabel, married Reginald Travers on 13 Aug. 1914, as reported in the Sydney Morning Herald 14 Aug. 1914

SERIES 01. Major General William Holmes papers, ca. 1900-1916

SERIES 01 PART 01
Major General William Holmes diary and notebooks with personal correspondence, 1900-1916

SERIES 01 PART 02
Major General William Holmes cablegrams, reports and correspondence, 1914-1915

SERIES 01 PART 03
Major General William Holmes papers, photographs and maps, ca. 1899-1916


SERIES 02. Colonel Reginald Travers papers, 1914-1920

SERIES 02 PART 01
Colonel Reginald Travers diaries, 1915-1918

SERIES 02 PART 02
Colonel Reginald Travers correspondence, 1915-1920

SERIES 02 PART 03
Colonel Reginald Travers photographs and miscellaneous papers, 1914-1920

SERIES 02 PART 04
Colonel Reginald Travers papers regarding the Anzac Memorial Appeal, 1919-1920

SERIES 02 PART 05
Colonel R.J.A. Travers World War I Anzac Memorial and Bursaries badges and other items, 1917-1919

Copyright status:: In copyright - This collection has multiple rights owners
Research & study copies allowed: Applies only to material in which the author has been deceased for more than 50 years

Contents list available in the Mitchell Library Reading Room -

Information transferred from Manuscripts Leaf Catalogue No. 2 as part of the eRecords Project, 2009-2010

State Library of New South Wales collection of World War I diaries

This collection includes pictorial material at Pic.Acc.6217