Arthur William Bazley

Arthur William Bazley (4 August 1896 – 31 July 1972) was an Australian soldier who served as batman and unofficial secretary to military historian Charles Bean throughout the First World War and beyond as a research assistant. He was director of the Australian War Memorial in its early years, and was of great service to Bean in the compilation of his Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918. In his later career he was a trusted public servant.

History Bazley was born at South Yarra, Victoria, son of Georgina Victoria Bazley, née Gibson (1873–1955), and Arthur Edwin Bazley (1864–1939), of 9 Moffatt Street, South Yarra, a principal of Broadbent & Bazley, coachbuilders of Toorak Road, South Yarra. He was educated at South Yarra (Punt Road) State School, and found employment as a clerk with Melbourne's Argus newspaper.

He had three years' experience with the Senior Cadets and three months in the militia — with the 19th Battery (St Kilda), 7th Field Artillery Brigade — when he enlisted with the First AIF, assigned to Headquarters, on 5 October 1914. He gave his age as 19 though he was barely 18, so he could sail on the RMS Orvieto in the first convoy to Egypt on 21 October 1914. One account has him already attached as an assistant to Charles Bean. This may be so as Bean, though technically a civilian, was entitled to a driver and a batman, however Bazley was not formally appointed batman until 11 April 1916. about whom little has been written. Later that year Bean solicited from the Australian soldiers contributions for what would be an end-of-year magazine, but the evacuation interceded, and the 150-odd poems, essays and drawings were taken by Bazley to Imbros base on the 16 December. Bazley left for London on 22 January 1916, and helped edit those contributions, plus some of Bean's photographs and poems 'Abdul' and 'Non Nobis', into what became The Anzac Book, published May 1916.

Much of the next three years was spent with the Australian War Records Section in London, reporting, collecting, collating and publishing. He accompanied Bean on several expeditions to Belgium and France, where they experienced trench warfare at Fleurbaix, Pozières, Bullecourt and Arras, Messines, Passchendaele, Villers-Bretonneux and elsewhere. He was de-mobilized in June 1919 and re-employed, with the pay grade of staff-sergeant, from that date. No mention of Vol. 4. at the Tuggeranong homestead, near Canberra, and from 1925 at the Victoria Barracks, Sydney. by Templars in Australia whose property was confiscated by the Israeli Government in 1948.

In 1955 Bazley was tasked to implement "Operation Reunion", a policy initiated by Calwell but implemented under Harold Holt and his successors Athol Townley and Alick Downer, to facilitate immigration of WWII refugees from the Baltic States who had relatives in Australia. Within five years about 10,000 wives, husbands, children, brothers and sisters were reunited, largely through Bazley's work.

Other interests In 1930 Bazley became a volunteer co-editor of the army magazine Reveille, and contributed biographies on prominent A.I.F. personnel, which have been praised for their lucid accuracy. Bazley Street, Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, was named for him.