Webster, Robert Marriott William (Lieutenant Colonel, b.1889 - d.1968)

Collection relating to the Second World War service of TX2107 Lieutenant Colonel Robert Marriott William Webster, 2/9 Field Ambulance, Second Australian Imperial Force, at sea and Malaya, 1941-1942.

Wallet 1 of 1 – Consists of 18 typed copies of letters from Lieutenant Colonel Webster to his family, dated between February 1941 and January 1942. The letters cover the period of Lieutenant Colonel Webster’s embarkation and service with 2/9 Field Ambulance in Malaya. In his letters, Lieutenant Colonel Webster writes about his embarkation, struggles with the warm and humid environment, hearing news of the war, recreational activities on board the ship, his first impressions of Malaya, ambulances, censoring mail, local wildlife, living arrangements, visits to Kuala Lumpur and Malacca, local food, commemorating Anzac Day, treating men with tropical diseases and wounds, his attitudes towards the war, a visit to a local village, temporarily serving at a convalescent depot, watching sports played by members of his unit, the weather, food imports, interactions with local people, going on leave, playing golf, receiving a promotion, attending a dinner party in Singapore, meeting a variety of people from Australia and the United Kingdom, Christmas celebrations, acquiring new vehicles to make the unit more mobile, and the evacuation of troops and civilians from northern Malaya.