| Accession Number | AWM2020.492.1 |
|---|---|
| Collection type | Private Record |
| Record type | Collection |
| Measurement | Extent: 1 cm; Wallet/s: 1 |
| Object type | Letter |
| Maker |
Bowden, Timothy Gibson 'Tim' Davis, Neil Brian |
| Place made | Thailand: Bangkok |
| Date made | 1984-1985 |
| Access | Open |
| Conflict |
Period 1980-1989 |
| Copying Provisions | Copyright expired. Copying permitted subject to physical condition. Permission for reproduction not required. |
Davis, Neil Brian (War Correspondent, b.1934 - d.1985)
Description
Collection relating to the career of film journalist Neil Brian Davis, Visnews, Bangkok, 1984-1985.
Wallet 1 of 1 consists of letters between Neil Davis and his friend and biographer, Tim Bowden, a correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The letters relate to Davis' life experiences, and their recording for the publication that would become Neil Davis' biography, 'One Crowded Hour'. These experiences include witnessing Cambodian citizens attempting to flee across the Cambodian-Thailand Border, or Khmer Rouge soldiers attempting to defect during the Cambodian-Vietnam War in 1979.
Throughout the correspondences, the two frequently use nicknames for both themselves and each other. Davis frequently signs off his letters as 'Kerles', while Bowden addresses Davis as 'Tiny' or 'Throb'. Bowden is most frequently referred to by both himself and Davis as 'T. God' or simply 'God'. Additionally, the wallet contains facsimile copies of the letters.
Just ten days after the final letter in the collection was written, Davis was killed while covering an attempted coup d'etat in Thailand when a tank controlled by coup forces opened fire without warning.