Tim Bowden

Timothy Gibson Bowden (2 August 1937 – 1 September 2024) was an Australian author, radio and television broadcaster and producer, and oral historian. He was born in Hobart, Tasmania, and studied at the University of Tasmania, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Bowden's work included hosting the Australian Broadcasting Corporation program Backchat (1986–1994), producing This Day Tonight during the 1970s, and founding the ABC's Social History Unit. His other productions include Prisoners of War – Australians Under Nippon and the 24-part series Taim Bilong Masta – The Australian Involvement with Papua New Guinea.

Tim Bowden has also authored numerous books and oral histories, including the well-known The Changi Camera documenting Australian prisoners-of-war under Japanese captivity.

Tim Bowden was a war correspondent during the Vietnam War, which included embedded journalism with military units on patrol. He was the only Western journalists who was embedded with South Vietnamese military units in the war.

During the 1990s he produced several notable documentaries on Australian research in the Antarctic.

Tim Bowden had conducted nearly 120 oral history reports, which are documented and publicly available on the Australian War Memorial website.

Bowden died on 1 September 2024, at the age of 87.

Awards Appointed Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 1994 Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting. Centenary Medal, 2001 Honorary Doctorate of Letters, University of Tasmania, 1997

Books