Karl James

Background

About Karl James

Dr Karl James is Head of the Military History Section at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. A graduate from the University of Wollongong, his research focuses on Australia’s involvement in the Second World War. He has worked on several major exhibitions at the Memorial, including as lead curator of "From the shadows: Australia’s Special Forces"(2017–18), and the 70th anniversary exhibition the "Rats of Tobruk, 1941"(2011). Karl's publications include "Double diamonds: Australian commandos in the Pacific War, 1941–45"(2016);"The hard slog: Australians in the Bougainville campaign, 1944–45"(2012); and, as editor,"Kokoda: beyond the legend"(2016). He was appointed to the editorial board of the "Australian Dictionary of Biography" in 2021 as the co-chair of the Armed Services working group and in 2022 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Karl has also worked on Australia’s commitment to Afghanistan. He is currently leading a curatorial team developing a new permanent exhibition focused on the activities and experiences of the Australian Army rotations of CH-47D Chinooks to Afghanistan between 2006 and 2013.