Several months after the fighting at Pozières, Bean returned to retrace the battle where he collected the first relics for what would eventually become the AWM. Subsequently, at Bean's prompting, the Australian War Records Section (AWRS) was established in London in May 1917, under the command of Lieutenant, later Lieutenant Colonel, John Treloar. The Section's task was to collect and organise the documentary record of the Australian forces, so that it could be preserved for Australia, rather than be absorbed into Britain's records. Over the next two years the AWRS acquired approximately 25,000 objects, termed by Bean as 'relics', as well as paper records, photographs, film, publications, and works of art. These were brought back to Australia in 1919 and formed the basis of the collection of the AWM. Treloar, who was later appointed the AWM's Director, contributed more than any other person to the realisation of Bean's AWM vision. Bean believed that photography was essential to the work of a modern historian, taking his own photographs on Gallipoli. On the Western Front, private cameras were banned in British armies. After lobbying, Bean succeeded in mid – 1917 in having two Australians commissioned as official photographers to the A.I.F: polar adventurers, Frank Hurley and Hubert Wilkins. Bean and Hurley, however, had opposing ideas, particularly over composite images some of which have become classics of the genre and priceless insights into the nature of the Great War. But for Bean the quest was for accuracy and honesty rather than artistry. Bean, with Treloar, was also involved in the program for employing Australian war artists. Among the selected artists were Will Dyson (1880–1938) and George Lambert (1873–1930) who were already living in London, and Frank Crozier (1883–1948) who was already serving with the AIF. In these three initiatives, namely the establishment of the AWRS, the commissioning of official Australian war artists and the commissioning of official Australian war photographers, Captain H. C. Smart of the Australian High Commission in London played an important part. Bean was further involved in the administration of the A.I.F., contributing to the formation and development of the A.I.F. educational scheme for returning soldiers which was subsequently established in May 1918, with Bishop George Long as its inaugural Director of Education. In 1918, when a successor to General Birdwood as commander of the Australian Corps was being chosen, Bean intervened on behalf of General Brudenell White, General Birdwood's