Alumni Profile

William Westerman (2005)

In early primary school, I watched the film Sink the Bismarck!. I have no idea whether it was the first war film I ever saw, yet it stands out vividly in my memory, such that I have determined it to be a formative experience setting me on the path to becoming a historian. Released in 1960, it told the true story of the eponymous German battleship during the Second World War. The black and white film is a typical British production of the era, an attempt to stir the population’s patriotic spirit and remind it that Britain had, despite the crippling financial cost and steady loss of empire, been victorious in the Second World War.

Fascinated by the hunt for the Bismarck, which the film depicts reasonably accurately, I sought to explore more exciting facets of the Second World War. I devoured numerous films and documentaries, although to my detriment I only started reading books recreationally on the topic once I had finished my undergraduate studies. Over time, my interest matured, and I have developed a genuine fascination of how military organisations have functioned over the centuries. I am now a professional historian, with a PhD and several books (including one esoteric entry recounting the AFL’s 1996 merger between the Fitzroy Lions and the brisbane bears) to my credit. I am currently working at the Australian War Memorial writing the Official History of Australian Operations in Iraq, 2003-2011.

My affection and aptitude for history was constant during school. When I came to Camberwell Grammar for an interview with the Head of Middle School, he asked what my favourite subject was. Expecting the standard answer – Physical Education – he was taken aback by my honest response. At Camberwell Grammar, studying Latin effectively provided a second history subject, and I owe Mr Tuckfield a great debt for the way he brought antiquity alive through language, story and culture. My penchant for history must have been obvious to my peers, as at my Year 12 formal I won an award for the student most likely to return to Camberwell as a teacher (in history, they specified). As at least two other 2005 leavers now work at the school, the organising committee proved better at putting on a dinner than at prognostication. In Year 12 I studied History Revolutions, and remain somewhat bitter that my interpretation of the Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917 as a coup driven 38 by a small elite against the ineffectual Provisional Government was seemingly not in line with the examiners’ reading of events. Rather than accepting any fault of my own, I attribute this as the reason I fell just short of 50 for the subject.

Leaving Camberwell, I found studying history at the University of Melbourne underwhelming. The notable exception was ‘Modern American History, 1890-1990’, which lays claim to being the only course I attended in full during my first three years as an undergraduate, deservedly so because it was an interesting subject and well taught. Somehow, despite my relatively unexceptional performance – at the time, other aspects of university life were more appealing than studying – I surprised myself by being accepted into an Honours year, where, again to my surprise, I graduated relatively highly.

At some point, I decided that I would regret not attempting to pursue a career in history. Seeking advice from several established Australian historians, I managed to convince Professor Jeffrey Grey of the Australian Defence Force Academy to take me on as a PhD candidate, despite missing my flight to Canberra and subsequently being quite late to our first meeting. Not long after graduating I was employed by the War Memorial as a Research Assistant for the Official History series covering Australia’s involvement in recent conflicts (Afghanistan, Iraq, and East Timor), and have remained on the project ever since.

While I have certainly embraced the cliché of ‘following my passion’, to turn this into a viable career required hard work (increasingly so at each academic level) to ensure that I was wellplaced for opportunities when they arose. Career advancement also required networks and relationships, as well as the undignified but necessary task of self-promotion and ‘putting yourself out there’. Unlike other aspiring historians, I am fortunate in that the field of military history benefits from institutional support for projects, grants, publishing, and employment opportunities – something unrivalled in most other fields.

Finally, no matter how much I have achieved, there is no guarantee that my current job in the field will not be my last, such is the fickleness of the market and the profession. Knowing this, I have attempted to enjoy every minute of my work, giving thanks that I can earn a living doing what I love.