Nicole Townsend is a PhD candidate in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at UNSW Canberra. Her thesis examines Australian involvement in the Mediterranean theatre during the Second World War, and seeks to challenge the prevailing presumption that the Mediterranean was a ‘sideshow’ theatre, particularly for Australia, for whom the Pacific War was apparently paramount. Her multi-faceted approach, which explores the diplomatic, political, military and economic significance of the Mediterranean theatre from an Australian perspective, seeks to bring together the Australian experience in this theatre, within a single study, and to include the experiences of all three services.

Nicole Townsend
HDR Student