series was written to be read by a general audience. It aimed to provide the general populace with a comprehensive account of Australia's role in the war, including coverage of the 'home front' and industrial and medical aspects of the war. The series also had a nationalistic motivation, which was in line with Long's goal of it ensuring that Australia's role was not overshadowed by that of Britain and the United States. Long believed that this motivation was shared by the official historians for the other Dominion countries. The 22 volumes were published by the Australian War Memorial between 1952 and 1977, most books being completed and released in the 1950s and early 1960s. The publishing company Collins began a project to print the series with new introductions by modern scholars in the 1980s after the University of Queensland Press reprinted the Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918. The project was terminated after the first three volumes in the Army series and both volumes in the Navy series were reprinted. Volumes The 22 volumes in Australia in the War of 1939–1945 were organised into five series. Gavin Long edited the Army, Navy, Air and Civil series and Allan S. Walker edited the Medical series and wrote most of the volumes on this topic. The series also included a concise history of Australia's role in the war, which was written by Long and titled The Six Years War. Series 1 – Army Volume I – To Benghazi – Gavin Long (1952) Volume II – Greece, Crete and Syria – Gavin Long (1953) Volume III – Tobruk and El Alamein – Barton Maughan (1967) Volume IV – The Japanese Thrust – Lionel Wigmore (1957) Volume V – South–West Pacific Area – First Year: Kokoda to Wau – Dudley McCarthy (1959) Volume VI – The New Guinea Offensives – David Dexter (1961) Volume VII – The Final Campaigns – Gavin Long (1963) Series 2 – Navy Volume I – Royal Australian Navy, 1939–1942 – G. Hermon Gill (1957) Volume II – Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945 – G. Hermon Gill (1969) G. Hermon Gill wrote both the volumes in the series on the Royal Australian Navy's activities. Gill was a journalist who had served in the RAN's Naval Intelligence Division and Naval Historical Records section during the war. He was more successful than most of the other authors in placing his