John Linton Treloar, OBE (10 December 1894 – 28 January 1952), commonly referred to during his life as J. L. Treloar, was an Australian archivist and the second director of the Australian War Memorial (AWM). During World War I he served in several staff roles and later headed the First Australian Imperial Force's (AIF) record-keeping unit. From 1920 Treloar played an important role in establishing the AWM as its director. He headed an Australian Government department during the first years of World War II, and spent the remainder of the war in charge of the Australian military's history section. Treloar returned to the AWM in 1946, and continued as its director until his death.
Treloar's career was focussed on the Australian military and its history. Prior to World War I he worked as a clerk in the Department of Defence and, after volunteering for the AIF in 1914, formed part of the Australian Army officer Brudenell White's staff for most of the war's first years. He was appointed commander of the Australian War Records Section (AWRS) in 1917. In this position, he improved the AIF's records and collected a large number of artefacts for later display in Australia. Treloar was appointed the director of what eventually became the AWM in 1920, and was a key figure in establishing the Memorial and raising funds for its permanent building in Canberra. He left the AWM at the outbreak of World War II to lead the Australian Government's Department of Information, but was effectively sidelined for much of 1940. In early 1941 he was appointed to command the Australian military's Military History and Information Section with similar responsibilities to those he had held during World War I. He attempted to intervene in the management of the AWM during his absence, however, to the increasing frustration of its acting director. Treloar worked intensely in all his roles and suffered periods of ill-health as a result. Following the war, he returned to the Memorial in 1946 but his performance deteriorated over time, possibly due to exhaustion. He died in January 1952.
Treloar continues to be regarded as an important figure in Australian military history. His principal achievements are seen as gathering and classifying Australia's records of the world wars and successfully establishing the AWM. The street behind the Memorial and its main storage annex were named in Treloar's honour following his death.
Early life
Treloar was born in Port Melbourne, Victoria, on 10 December 1894. His father was a sales representative for Carlton & United Breweries and his mother was a strict Methodist. Treloar was educated at Albert Park State School and became a trained Sunday school teacher. He was not able to attend university, but sought self-education in Melbourne's museums and libraries. Treloar also participated in his school's cadet unit, and believed that the military offered a means to follow his ambition for a career in a field other than small business. He was also a capable footballer, cricket player, and athlete and was invited to train with the South Melbourne Football Club. He took his father's advice to wait until he was 21 before playing senior games, however, and instead took a job with the Department of Defence after he left school in 1911. In this position he worked as a clerk for Brudenell White, who was later a leading Australian staff officer of World War I and the commander of the Australian Army during the early months of World War II.
World War I
On 16 August 1914, shortly after the outbreak of World War I, Treloar enlisted in the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and became a staff sergeant working for White in the headquarters of the 1st Division. He landed at Anzac Cove with the rest of the 1st Division's Headquarters during the morning of 25 April 1915, and subsequently participated in the Gallipoli Campaign. Treloar's duties were mainly clerical, and included typing reports, orders and dispatches from senior officers. He frequently worked from 7 am to midnight, and this took a toll on his health. He contracted typhoid in late August, and was evacuated to Egypt on 4 September. Treloar came close to dying from this disease, and was returned to Australia to recuperate. He arrived in Melbourne on 4 December 1915. During his convalescence, Treloar resumed a pre-war friendship with Clarissa Aldridge and the couple became engaged. Treloar's older brother William also enlisted in the AIF during April 1915, and was one of the few members of the Mesopotamian Half Flight to survive captivity after being captured by Turkish forces.