Gavin Long

Gavin Merrick Long (31 May 1901 – 10 October 1968) was an Australian journalist and military historian. He was the general editor of the official history series Australia in the War of 1939–1945 and the author of three of its twenty-two volumes.

Early life Gavin Long was born in Foster, Victoria, on 31 May 1901, the eldest of six children of George Merrick Long, a clergyman, and his wife, Felecie Alexandra Joyce. He was educated at Trinity Grammar School in Kew, Victoria, where his father was the first headmaster, and All Saints' College, Bathurst, After working as a jackeroo in 1924, he earned a Diploma of Education from the University of Sydney in 1925. As such, he covered the Phoney War and the Battle of France, until he was evacuated from Boulogne on 21 May 1940. Jocelyn and children embarked for Australia on the on 2 July.

In October 1940, Long was sent to Egypt where he reported on the 6th Australian Division in its campaigns in Libya and the Greece, Based at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, he spent the remainder of the war planning the series and visiting forward areas to interview members of the Australian military, during which he sought out information not just about events as they unfolded, but also about events earlier in the war to fill in gaps in the narrative.

After the war Long played a key role in the official history project, which ultimately became a 22-volume official history of Australia's involvement. Long chose the authors of his volumes: five, including himself, were journalists and five were academics; half had served in uniform during the war and two had been closely involved in the events they were writing about. At Long's insistence, all were "of the generation that belongs to this war rather than to the last". As well as providing guidance to the other authors, he wrote three of the volumes in the series: To Benghazi (1952), Greece, Crete and Syria (1953) and The Final Campaigns (1963). In 1956, he was awarded the Greek Gold Cross of the Royal Order of the Phoenix for "promoting Greece’s stature abroad". All Saint's College named two of its houses after Bean and Long.

Long died of lung cancer on 10 October 1968 at his home in Deakin, Australian Capital Territory, and was cremated.