Strong, Edward Alexander (Lieutenant, b.1911 - d.2008)

Collection relating to the Second World War service of NX70733 Lieutenant Edward Alexander Strong, 2/3 Australian Infantry Battalion, Second Australian Imperial Force, Australia and New Guinea, 1940-1943.

Wallet 1 of 1 – contains two folders of material relating to Lieutenant Edward Alexander Strong.

Folder 1 of 2 contains one memoir by Lieutenant Strong, three letters to Lieutenant Strong from his fiancée (later wife), Miss Valetta Rose Proudfoot [one letter incomplete], and one letter to Lieutenant Strong from his father, Mr Alexander Strong. In his memoir, Lieutenant Strong writes about his embarkation for overseas service in the Middle East, travelling in convoy, and life at sea. In her letters to her fiancée (later husband), written in 1943, Miss Proudfoot writes about arrangements for their wedding, her joy at hearing his voice during a telephone call, being unable to nurse him during his sickness, sending photographs, and meeting mutual acquaintances. In his letter to his son, dated 25 September 1943, Mr Alexander Strong expresses his sense of loss at the death of Lieutenant Strong’s brother-in-law, Squadron Leader Samuel George Proudfoot.

Folder 2 of 2 contains one album of telegrams, copies of telegrams, and memoir pages relating to Lieutenant Strong. The telegrams were sent between Lieutenant Strong, members of his family, and the Minister for the Army between c 1940 and c 1943. They cover the period of Lieutenant Strong’s return from the Middle East, service in New Guinea, evacuation due to severe illness, and recovery in hospital. The typed memoir pages, interleaved with the telegrams, describe Lieutenant Strong’s experiences of his embarkation to New Guinea, serving on the Kokoda Trail, being wounded, contracting typhus, and recovering in hospital in Tamworth, New South Wales.

Lieutenant Edward Alexander Strong enlisted to the Second Australian Imperial Force on 4 February 1941. He served with 2/3 Australian Infantry Battalion in the Middle East as a reinforcement, and went on to serve with the unit in New Guinea in September 1942. On 6 November 1942, Lieutenant Strong was wounded during action at Oivi Ridge. During his evacuation to Australia, he contracted scrub typhus and became dangerously ill. Lieutenant Strong recovered over several months at 102 Australian Hospital, Tamworth, New South Wales. He was discharged on 1 November 1945.