David Campbell
David Campbell was an influential Australian poet and writer, born into a physician's family in the highlands of New South Wales. He studied at Cambridge University and served in the Royal Australian Air Force during World War II, where he achieved the rank of wing commander and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with bar. His wartime experiences inspired his notable poem "Men in Green," which reflects on the intensity of paratroop missions. After the war, Campbell transitioned to farming near Canberra and wrote extensively, producing works that evolved from formalist verse on war and nature to more contemporary themes.
Throughout his career, Campbell contributed to various newspapers and literary journals, receiving multiple accolades for his poetry. His significant works include "Selected Stories" and a collection of his poetry published posthumously. In honor of his contributions, the David Campbell Award is presented annually to an unpublished poem by a poet from the Australian Capital Territory. His legacy is also commemorated through Mullion Park, established on his former property, where his poetry is celebrated through plaques and pathways.
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Subject Terms
David Campbell
Poet
- Born: July 16, 1915
- Birthplace: Ellerslie Station, Adelong, New South Wales, Australia
- Died: July 29, 1979
- Place of death: Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Biography
David Campbell was born into a physician’s family in the highlands of New South Wales, Australia. He attended Cambridge University, and he later married Bonnie Lawrence. He served in the Royal Australian Air Force during World War II. Campbell was stationed in the South Pacific and attained the rank of wing commander, receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross with bar. In 1944, Campbell wrote a famous poem based on his war experiences, “Men in Green,” about tropical paratroop jumping “with fifteen spitting tommy-guns/to keep the jungle back.”
After the war he took up farming near Canberra. Two children, Andrew and Raina, were born of his first marriage. He divorced his wife in 1973 and married historian Judy Dale in 1974. During these years his poetry, which previously had been formalist verse about World War II and nature and life in the Australian outback, changed to a freer form of verse about contemporary subjects. Campbell was a frequent contributor to various newspapers and literary journals and received many awards. His Selected Stories was published in 1976, and he translated two volumes of Russian poetry, including the work of poets Anna Akhmatova and Osip Mandelstam. He collaborated with Keith Ronald Looby on The History of Australia, a collection of songs and poems for Macleay Museum, in 1976. David Campbell: Collected Poemswas published in 1989, eight years after Poetry Australia published a special, posthumous issue on his life and work.
Campbell's property became a park, named Mullion Park after his book The Miracle of Mullion Hill (1956), in 2007. Excerpts of his poetry appear on plaques and pathways throughout the park. The David Campbell Award is given out yearly to an unpublished poem by a poet from the Australian Capital Territory in his honor.
Bibliography
"David Campbell (1915–1979)." Australian Poetry Library. Cultural Fund, n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2016.
Kramer, Leonie. "Campbell, David Watt (1915–1979)." Australian Dictionary of Biography. Natl. Ctr. of Biography, 1993. Web. 5 Apr. 2016.
Larkin, John. "David Campbell—Hands of a Farmer, Mind of a Poet." Age [Melbourne] 28 May 1970: 2. Print.
Tait, Melanie, and Gretchen Miller. "Letters Lifted into Poetry: The Poetic Exchanges between David Campbell and Douglas Stewart." Radio National. ABC, 9 Apr. 2011. Web. 5 Apr. 2016.