It identifies the functions of this bureau at the crucial meso-level of society, positioned between the public, on the one hand, and state and military institutions, on the other, as an organisation and a set of resolute individuals. It undertakes to understand the bureau’s development and organisational structure to meet the changing needs of the public as the war progressed.

The thesis examines the workings of the bureau in South Australia based on this extensive and unique archival collection.

The archival collection of the South Australian Red Cross Information Bureau housed in the State Library of South Australia is the only extant such archive in Australia and, more broadly, in what was once known as the British Dominions. It had the self-appointed task of assisting those in society ‘anxious to seek news of sick, wounded or missing men’ who had enlisted from the state.

As one of six such bureaux, the South Australian Red Cross Information Bureau opened its doors to the public on 5 January 1916. The Australian Red Cross information bureaux network was founded in the latter part of 1915 during the First World War.

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