Documents

Letters

I have found six letters written by my father during the war. The first was written in January 1942, not long before his capture. The last five were written not long after his liberation.

My father sent six prisoner of war postcards during his internment as a prisoner of war. The postcards were sent to his family via the Red Cross. Prisoners of war were not able to write very much. Space was limited.

Telegrams

My father kept seven telegrams from the war years. Collectively they tell the story of his war experiences. They provide a chronology of the critical moments in his life as a soldier of the 2/19th battalion, AIF.

Australian Military Forces

The letters below were sent to my father and his family by the Australian Military Forces. Franks’s recruitment letter is also included below. The original envelopes contain wartime messages for the general public.

Radio broadcasts

During the war years radio enthusiasts or “ham radio operators” listened in on the radio broadcasts emanating from around the globe. A number of enthusiasts from across Australia listened in on the broadcasts from the Japanese run “Radio Singapore”

Red Cross Society

The Red Cross sent a number of letters to Frank’s family. The correspondence includes references to broadcasts from Radio Singapore and the correct way to send mail to a prisoner of war.

Maps

Frank kept several maps that relate to his time as a prisoner of war. The map showing the location of prisoner of war camps is very interesting and contains a high level of detail.

APOWRA

Frank’s family received a letter from the Australian Prisoners of War Relatives’ Association regarding the transmission of a radio message by the Japanese army via Radio Singapore.

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