Professional Background

 

 

Chris Clark (formerly known as Chris Coulthard-Clark) was born and grew up in the Western District of Victoria. He went to Canberra in 1969 to attend RMC Duntroon, shortly after its affiliation with UNSW.

 

Graduating with a Bachelor's degree in 1972, he had several Army postings before joining the Australian Public Service in 1979. He completed his Master's degree at Duntroon the following year, then worked as a strategic analyst in the departments of Defence, Foreign Affairs, and Prime Minister and Cabinet until 1987, when he turned to writing on defence history full-time for the RAAF.

 

In 1991 he received his PhD for a thesis on the development of Australian air power in the two decades after World War I. For six years he managed his own consultancy, working on commissioned history projects, before becoming Commonwealth and Armed Services research editor with the Australian Dictionary of Biography at ANU, then Historian for Post-1945 Conflicts at the Australian War Memorial.

 

In 2004 he was appointed RAAF Historian and headed the Office of Air Force History until 2013 when he returned to private writing.

 
Publications

 

His books include:

  • A Heritage of Spirit: A Biography of Major-General Sir William Throsby Bridges (1979)

  • Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-1986 (1986)

  • Gables, Ghosts and Governors-General: The Historic House at Yarralumla (edited, 1988)

  • No Australian Need Apply: The Troubled Career of Lieutenant-General Gordon Legge (1988)

  • Action Stations Coral Sea: The Australian Commander´s Story (1991))

  • The Third Brother: The Royal Australian Air Force 1921-39 (1991)

  • The Diggers: Makers of the Australian Military Tradition: Lives from the Australian Dictionary of Biography (edited, 1993)

  • The Shame of Savo: Anatomy of a Naval Disaster (co-authored, 1994)

  • The RAAF in Vietnam: Australian Air Involvement in the Vietnam War 1962-1975 (1995)

  • The Encyclopedia of Australia´s Battles (1998, 2001, 2010)

  • Breaking Free: Transforming Australia´s Defence Industry: The ADI Story (1999)

  • Australia´s Military Map-Makers: The Royal Australian Survey Corps 1915-96 (2000)