Dudley McCarthy

Dudley McCarthy (24 July 1911 – 3 October 1987) was an Australian military historian, soldier and diplomat. He served in the Second World War as an intelligence officer and later authored of one of the volumes of the official history series Australia in the War of 1939–1945, dealing with the early stages of the New Guinea campaign, as well as a biography of Charles Bean. He joined the Department of External Affairs in 1963 and served terms as Ambassador to Mexico (1967–1972) and Ambassador to Spain (1972–1976).

Early life Dudley McCarthy was born in North Sydney in New South Wales, Australia on 24 July 1911, one of four sons of a schoolteacher, James McCarthy, and his wife. He went to Kempsey West Intermediate High School after which he studied at the University of Sydney. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1932 and a Diploma of Education the following year. Unable to secure a teaching position due to the Depression, McCarthy found work as a patrol officer in New Guinea where his area of responsibility covered the Morobe and Sepik districts. The work was dangerous; on one occasion he was wounded by arrows fired by hostile locals.

In 1935, the New South Wales Department of Education resumed hiring new teachers and McCarthy returned to Australia to take up a position teaching English and history at Petersham Intermediate and Homebush Junior Boys’ High schools. In 1938, he gave up teaching to work at Qantas Empire Airways as a flight clerk for the company's flying-boat service.

Official History In 1943, the Australian Government selected Gavin Long as general editor of the Australia in the War of 1939–1945. This was to be a 22-volume official history of Australia's involvement in the Second World War. He progressed the project for the next several years, planning various volumes and identifying potential authors. In 1946 Long selected McCarthy as the author of the volume concerning the Australian Army's effort during 1942 in New Guinea. Long's decision was based on an account that McCarthy had written of the retreat to Tobruk in the early stages of the North African campaign, published in The Bulletin.

McCarthy worked on his volume, titled South-West Pacific Area–First Year: Kokoda to Wau, concurrently with his diplomatic career. The book covered the fighting during the first year of the campaign in Papua New Guinea, including along the Kokoda Trail. As part of his preparation, he walked the Kokoda Trail itself. His work also provided a balanced account of the Japanese efforts during the fighting. It was published in 1959.

McCarthy was made chairman of the Films Board of Review in 1977, and remained in the post until 1981. During this time, he published a novel, The Fate of O’Loughlin: A Novel. He then worked on a biography of the well known war historian Charles Bean, which was published in 1983 as Gallipoli to the Somme. Although it was received the 1984 Best Australian Book of the Year award,