About the author: Colin Gregory Kerr (1912 1982), journalist. The State Library of South Australiasummarizes his life and career as follows:
Began working for the ‘Advertiser’ in 1935, becoming known as a theatre critic, leading writer, feature writer and political reporter. Married Mary Margaret Ethelwynne Goyder (b.1909) in the same year. Served with the Australian Imperial Force in North Africa and the South-West Pacific during the Second World War. Left the ‘Advertiser’ in 1963 and worked briefly for the Liberal and Country League before joining the State Archives. Founding editor of the University of Adelaide paper ‘On Dit’, contributor to the ‘Southern Cross’ Catholic newspaper and co-author of ten books with Margaret.
About the diary: In the Digital Collections The State Library of South Australia, which records that:
Diary written by Colin Kerr in 1944. It describes his voyage on the USS ‘Casa Grande’ from Dutch New Guinea to Leyte in the Philippines, then the subsequent two months spent there with the PWB (US Psychological Warfare Branch) during Japanese bombing campaigns.
The Philippine Diary Project contains his entries from November 5, 1944 (arrival in the Philippines), to January 12, 1945, the last entry in the volume.