On this day in 1982, the National Library made the Menzies Papers publicly available. The papers contained his personal and diaries and papers. Under the terms of Menzies's will after his passing in 1978, his personal papers were held by the library but its release was restricted for three years with his official biographer, Lady McNicoll, being the only individual with access.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The restriction lasted until 1981, but the Menzies family delayed the right to public access for an additional year. The library also held some copies of Menzies's official papers, but they were not included in the release as they were subjected to an archival regulation that prohibited access for 30 years.
Pam Ray, the library's manuscript librarian, said the papers painted Menzies "in a much better light than some people have regarded him". The library described the papers as "absorbing", "amusing", and "above all, human". These qualities were evident in the diary he kept of his 1941 visits overseas.
Menzies stated "if there is action the General will no doubt die gallantly, but too many of his men will die with him" when he assessed the situation in Singapore in January 1941 when he stopped over, on his way to Egypt, London, Ottawa and Washington. He was referring to the then British Army commander in Malaya, Lieutenant-General Lionel Bond.
The diaries showed that when Menzies left Sydney by fling boat on January 24, 1941, for his overseas visits, he was seriously disturbed about the situation in the Far East and Japan's mounting proactiveness and truculence. Prior to arriving in Singapore, he visited the Netherlands East Indies (now known as Indonesia).
Menzies was impressed by the governor-general who had provided him a strong assurance that the Dutch would stand and fight despite being short of material and arms. His uneasy grew stronger when he arrived in Singapore and his diary contained some interesting pen pictures of the strategic situation in the Malay peninsula.
After the visit to Singapore, Menzies made his way to Burma, India and the Gulf States before finally reaching Egypt. Upon reaching Egypt he commented in his diary, "at every stopping place I am impressed by the cool, youngish, educated, and good-looking Englishman who materialises, whether as Resident, Commissioner, law-officer, adviser to local sheik or whatnot".
