Owens, Richard Ernest (Private, b.1885 - d.1945)

Collection relating to the First World War service of 1948 Private Richard Ernest Owens, 35th Battalion, Germany, 1917-1919.

Wallet 1 of 1 consists of seven postcards written from Private Owens to his wife, Violet Owens, as well as three letters written to Violet Owens, and two letters written to Private Owens regarding his capture and internment as a prisoner of war in Germany. The postcards written from Owens to his wife are mainly written from the prisoner of war camp at Wurzburg, and relay his good health and treatment by the Germans. The letters to Violet Owens, including a letter by Lieutenant Richard Valentine Lathlean, relate the circumstances under which Private Owens was captured. The letters to Private Owens inform him of the work of the Australian Red Cross Association Prisoners of War Department, and later congratulate him on his return to Australia in 1919. Additionally the collection contains a typewritten letter bearing King George's signature that was sent to Commonwealth prisoners of war, and a letter allegedly left in the uniform by one of the women who had made it addressed to "Soldier boy".