Graham, Clifton Frank (Sapper : VX21266 : b.1914)

Letters and postcards written by Sapper Clifton Frank Graham (VX21266) to his parents during the Second World War. The letters cover the period 1940 to 1943 and describe training in Australia; descriptions of the voyage on the Queen Mary; and experiences of Malaya and Singapore.

Born on 22 October 1914 in Northcote, Victoria, Clifton Frank Graham enlisted in the second AIF on 6 June 1940. At the time of his enlistment he was a 25 year old fitter and turner, was single, and living in St Kilda, Victoria. Graham was taken on strength at the Recruit Reception Depot (RRD) and initially allotted to the 2/8th Field Company Engineers on 8 June 1940. Later that month he was transferred briefly back to the RRD, then to No. 6 Australian Imperial Force Depot before finally being allotted to the 2/10th Field Company Engineers (FCE) as a Sapper.

He embarked on the Queen Mary on 2 February 1941 in Sydney and sailed north. Disembarking in Singapore on 18 February, Graham served there and on mainland Malaya over the next twelve months. During this time he was confirmed as a Grade Group I Fitter. With the outbreak of war with Japan in December 1941, Graham was detached from the 2/10th FCE to serve with the 2/19th Infantry Battalion on 7 December and was listed as missing on 16 February 1942, presumably on Singapore as the island and city fell to the Japanese.

Graham remained a prisoner of war for the duration and was liberated at Changi POW Camp in Singapore on 5 September 1945, three days after the Japanese surrender. He embarked on the Largs Bay on 21 September and disembarked back in Sydney on 10 October. After spending some time recovering at the 115th Military Hospital in Watsonia, Sydney, Graham was discharged from the AIF on 20 December 1945 and returned home to Melbourne.