The New Guard was formed in Sydney in February 1931. Its membership application form said that the movement stood for: unswerving loyalty to the Throne; all for the British Empire; sane and honourable government throughout Australia; suppression of any disloyal and immoral elements in government, industrial and social circles; abolition of machine politics; and maintenance of the full liberty of the individual.
The movement appealed to conservative returned servicemen who were strongly anti-Communist and deeply suspicious of the Labor Premier of New South Wales, Jack Lang, and his political and economic response to the Great Depression.
Eric Campbell (1893–1970), the New Guard's leader and a World War I veteran, gave the movement a quasi-military organisation – with divisional commanders, zone commanders and a chief commander. Members were placed into three classes based on their physical fitness and technical abilities.
At its height, the New Guard had a membership of over 50,000. The movement was almost exclusively based in New South Wales, with its heaviest concentration of support in Sydney. After the dismissal of the Lang government on 13 May 1932 and its subsequent defeat at the polls, and with an improving economy, the New Guard lost much of its momentum.
Despite efforts by Campbell and others to identify a wider sphere of activities that might sustain the movement, none met with long-term success. In his book The New Road (Briton Publications, Sydney, 1934), Campbell also attempted to define a political role for those who supported the concept of a New Guard.
The National Archives holds a number of significant records relating to the New Guard and some of its prominent members. These are held in Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney. They include security investigations into the New Guard, copies of and reports about New Guard publications, and records concerning allegations that in 1931 and 1932 there were links between the New Guard and the Defence Department. Details of these records are provided below.
 | First AIF dossier – Campbell, Eric | 1916–85 | B2455, Campbell E | ||
| The New Guard and 'The Association' | 1930–49 | A367, C94121 | ||
| The New Guard | 1931–48 | A432, 1931/1871 | ||
| The New Guard, Vol. 1, No. 1 October 1931 (New Guard Publications) | 1931 | A1336, 21741 | ||
| The Association (post war) and the New Guard (pre war) – Vols 1 and 2 | 1931–49 | A6122, 2 Volume 1 | ||
| The Association (post war) and the New Guard (pre war) – Vols 1 and 2 | 1949–67 | A6122, 2 Volume 2 | ||
| Drawing – Captain FE de Groot – copyright registration and exhibit | 1932 | A1861, 6339 | ||
| New Guard – Alleged association of with Defence Department – Parliamentary Question by Mr Beasley | 1932 | A5954, 973/6 | ||
| The New Guard, Sydney. Request for list of banned Communist literature | 1933 | A432, 1933/947 | ||
| EC's Gazette (Eric Campbell) | 1935 | A6126, 2 | ||
| (Newspaper cuttin)] The Rallying Point: My Story of the New Guard by Eric Campbell | 1965 | A5954, 1248/43 | ||
| Lieutenant Colonel Eric Campbell – appeal to the Governor-General | 1926–42 | MP742/1, C/1/34 | ||
| Report on alleged connection of Defence Department with New Guard | 1931–32 | B1535, 812/1/23 | ||
| De Groot, FE – Temporary Major – connected with incidents at opening of Sydney Harbour Bridge | 1932–43 | MP742/1, D/2/306 | ||
| The New Guard | 1933 | B741, V/9397 | ||
| Coast defences Fremantle (Component 6 of 8: attachment to 1887/2/35, 'Internal security – activities of New Guard' in Box 5) | 1933–34 | MP1049/9, 1855/2/29 | ||
You can obtain more information about the record series listed above (and the items within the series) fromRecordSearch, the Archives database. Follow the links in the series lists to go directly to information on that series. You can also use RecordSearch to find out about the agencies that created the records and to locate more records on your subject. You might also explore PhotoSearch to find out if there are photos pertaining to your subject.
RecordSearch and PhotoSearch are available online or in all Archives reading rooms. Reference staff are available in the reading rooms to help you, or email ref@naa.gov.au.
A number of books have been published about the New Guard, including a volume of memoirs, The Rallying Point: My Story of the New Guard, by Eric Campbell (Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1965), and the later study, The New Guard Movement 1931–1935, by Keith Amos (Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1976).
Records relating to the New Guard are also held by State Records of New South Wales and the Mitchell Library, which is located within the State Library of New South Wales. See Fact Sheet 2 – Addresses of other Australian archival institutions for contact details for these institutions.
For further information on Jack Lang, see – Fact Sheet 96 – JT Lang and Lang Labor.