War Studies Seminar Series

Very few Australians landed in Normandy as part of Operation NEPTUNE, the June 1944 Allied invasion of France. One of them was the distinguished war correspondent Chester Wilmot who landed in a glider within hours of the start of the landings. Following the end of the war he spent some years writing one of the earliest accounts of the Second World War - The Struggle for Europe. Published in 1952, it quickly became a best-seller and remains to this day a highly respected historical source. Original archival material uncovered during the writing of Caen Controversy raises questions about the approach adopted by Wilmot as he gathered his research material. Despite being alerted to errors that had been made in the published account of the D-Day landing, he refused to change his description of events. In this seminar Professor Andrew Stewart will explore how this deliberate action on Wilmot’s part has had significant historical consequences by permanently distorting how the battle for Normandy is remembered today.

About the speaker

Andrew Stewart is Head of Conflict Research at the Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research, the British Army’s think-tank. An Honorary Professor at the Australian National University in the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre and a Visiting Professor in King’s College London’s School of Security Studies, he has spent nearly 25 years working alongside British and global armed forces. Previously the Director of Academic Studies at the Royal College of Defence Studies and Principal at the Australian War College, he has taught and lectured to military officers in the Gulf, the Balkans, across Africa and, most recently, as a faculty member at the Royal Danish Defence College. A widely published author with a focus on military history, diplomacy and conflict and international security, his most recent book – Superpower Britain: The 1945 Vision and Why it Failed (co-written with Ashley Jackson) – was published in February 2025 by OUP.

Image: Australian war correspondent Chester Wilmot talking to some French commandos of 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando in in Amfreville, Normandy, on 9 June 1944.

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