Colin Wills (1906–1965), journalist and author, was born in Toowoomba, Queensland and grew up in Sydney. His father Frederick Charles Wills was a photographer and cinematographer. At sixteen, Colin became a jackeroo for several years, during which he wrote stories and poetry. His first poem was published in Vision in 1924. For the next fifteen years he worked as a journalist for the Daily Guardian, Smith's Weekly and the Daily Telegraph, as well as radio journalism and newsreel commentary. He moved to England in 1939, where he continued to work as a journalist. As a war correspondent for the BBC during the Second World War, he reported on the D-Day landing at Normandy and the Belsen concentration camp when it was liberated in 1945. Wills published a book of poetry, Rhymes of Sydney (1933), and three non-fiction books, White Traveller in Black Africa (1951), Who Killed Kenya? (1953) and Australian Passport (1953).
Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2021. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. Works of art from the collection are reproduced as per the
Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). The use of images of works from the collection may be restricted under the Act. Requests for a reproduction of a work of art can be made through a
Reproduction request. For further information please contact
NPG Copyright.
