Brown, Frederick Charles (Corporal, b.1919 - d.2006)

Collection relating to the Second World War service of VX132447 Corporal Frederick Charles Brown, 39 Australian Infantry Battalion, Second Australian Imperial Force, New Guinea, c.1943.

Wallet 1 of 1 – Consists of one handwritten 22-page memoir of Corporal Frederick Charles Brown, relating to his service in New Guinea with 39 Australian Infantry Battalion in May 1942. In his memoir, Corporal Brown records his experience of a patrol to the small eastern islands of New Guinea after the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. The purpose of the patrol was to gather information regarding Japanese survivors. He writes about a sea voyage, stopping in towns and villages on the journey, his impressions of the landscapes, staying overnight in a local house, doing Vickers gun training, buying souvenirs, interacting with local people, gathering material from a Japanese aircraft, rough seas, rescuing stranded American servicemen, exploring an island in a truck without brakes, visiting a church, finding signs of previous Japanese occupation, fishing from the boat, asking local people for information regarding the Japanese, being bitten by sand flies, and returning to Port Moresby.