Howard, Keith Desmond (Colonel, b.1920 - d.2010)

Collection relating to the military career of WX11084 / 520569 Colonel Keith Desmond Howard RFD, ED, Australian Army, 1941-1976.

The collection consists of a custom box and 8 wallets containing two scrapbooks, letters, news clippings, photographs, documents and ephemera relating to Howard's career in the Australian Army. The collection spans Howard's service as a junior officer in the Second World War, his secondment to the British Army with 1 King's Dragoon Guards during the Malayan Emergency, and the decade he spent as a peacekeeper with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO) and the Second United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF II) in the Middle East.

Custom box 1 of 2 - Consists of a scrapbook (sans album) of letters and photographs relating to the Second World War service of then-Captain Keith Howard, 2/16 Battalion, 2/43 Battalion, Palestine, Egypt, Australia, Borneo, Labuan, Ambon, 1941-1945.

The scrapbook consists of 51 pages containing 28 letters written between 3 November 1941 and 15 December 1945 and 111 accompanying photographs. The majority of the letters were sent by Howard to his parents, the first being written in Palestine on Howard's 21st birthday. Of his time in the Middle East, Howard writes of his duties, loneliness, his interactions with and impressions of other officers and locals, the natural environment, his periods of leave in Jerusalem and Cairo, leading trench raids near El Alamein, the siege of Tobruk, his hospitalisation with scabies, and celebrating Christmas 1942. The photographs lend support to the letters, depicting locals, the scenery and sights in Gaza, Palestine, Beersheba, Tobruk, and Egypt. There is a gap in the letters between June 1943 and November 1944, by which time Howard was serving as assistant adjutant to the 2/43rd Battalion in Australia. Thereafter, he writes of his staff work, his future prospects in the army, his reaction to the armistice in Europe, being second-in-command of a company, his experiences during the amphibious landings and fighting in the Borneo campaign, and his secondment to the 33rd Brigade on Ambon following the armistice with Japan.

Custom box 2 of 2 - Consists of a scrapbook (sans album) of letters and documents relating to the Malayan Emergency service of then-Lieutenant Colonel Keith Howard, 1 King's Dragoon Guards, Malaya, 1957.

The scrapbook consists of 4 pages containing typed extracts from letters, a news clipping, and the 13-page transcript of a recording Howard created while seconded to the 1st King's Dragoon Guards in Malaya from October to November 1957 to investigate and report on the employment of armoured cars in tropical warfare (see PUB03913.001). He writes of his arrival in Malaya, the British Majeedhee barracks in Johore, the mess, his interactions with and perceptions of various British officers, his visits to sub-units of the 1st King's Dragoon Guards on operations, and his investigation into armoured cars.

Wallet 1 of 8 - Consists of 26 letters, along with news clippings and documents, Colonel Keith Howard sent to friends and family between June 1967 and January 1969 while deployed as a Military Observer with UNTSO. Howard writes of his arrival, contrasts Jerusalem to his memories of the city in the 1940s, and describes the outbreak of the Six-Day War, the United Nations headquarters coming under fire and his being wounded by shrapnel. He also writes of the cease fire negotiations and re-establishing the UN presence in the wake of the war, his posting to Damascus and later Tiberias, manning observation posts, religious ceremonies, his duties, working with peacekeepers from other nationalities, his wife Joan and their daughter Zoe living and travelling with him in the Middle East, bombings and terror attacks, the natural environment, visiting Australian battlefields from the First and Second World Wars, and his observations on local life and living conditions. The wallet also includes a reference letter for Howard from the UNTSO Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Odd Bull, and the minutes of a meeting between Howard and Major D. Nahari, the Senior Israeli Representative at Quneitra, concerning the movements of Syrian herders.

Wallet 2 of 8 - Consists of 15 letters and documents by Colonel Howard to friends and family between April 1969 and December 1970 while deployed with UNTSO. He writes of the weather and changes in seasons, religious ceremonies, political developments and regime changes, cease fire violations, his duties and travels, observing Anzac Day 1969 at El Alamein, the extension of his tour with UNTSO, his posting to Kantara [El Qantara] on the Suez, leave in Turkey, Palestinian refugees, outbreaks of violence in Gaza, amateur archeology, business arrangements at home, and observing Christmas 1970 in Jerusalem.

Wallet 3 of 8 - Consists of 17 letters and documents by Colonel Howard to friends and family between January 1971 and July 1974 while deployed with UNTSO. Howard writes of business matters in Australia, family news, his future with UNTSO, observer duty in the Golan Heights, advancements in the conditions and facilities at observation posts, travel to Iran, the history of the Middle East, internal politics in the United Nations, recreation, the outbreak of violence and dangers posed to UN Observers during the Yom Kippur War, and the raising of UNEF II. The wallet also includes a news clipping by Howard in "Sit Rep", reflecting on his service with UNTSO and conflict in the Middle East.

Wallet 4 of 8 - Consists of 24 letters, documents, news clippings and invitations by Colonel Howard to friends, family and his wife Joan between December 1974 and January 1977 while deployed with UNTSO. Howard writes of his work at UNTSO Headquarters in Jerusalem, cease fire violations, his daily routine, interactions with other personnel, Christmas 1975, the Indonesian invasion of East Timor, the end of his service in UNTSO, and arrangements for his return home and discharge from the Australian Army. The wallet also includes a proposed menu and guest list for a dinner hosted by Howard in December 1975 while Acting Chief of Staff of UNTSO.

Wallet 5 of 8 - Consists of 34 letters written by Joan Howard to friends and family between August 1967 and April 1968 while living with Colonel Howard in the Middle East. She writes of family news, living in Tiberias and Damascus, Howard's postings and promotions within UNTSO, the history of the region, evidence of the Six-Day War reflected in the buildings, roads and people in Jerusalem, the family's travels to Jerusalem, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Israel, the weather, the multinational environment of the UNTSO, cease fire violations and press reports on the same, amateur archeology, visiting the battlefields and cemeteries of the First World War, and observing Christmas in Gaza.

Wallet 6 of 8 - Consists of 33 letters written by Joan and Zoe Howard to friends, family and Keith Howard between May 1968 and June 1970 while living with Colonel Howard in the Middle East. Joan writes of tensions and fighting in the region, Israeli attitudes to the United Nations, the role of Military Observers, the family's travels to the Sinai, Cyprus, Syria, Egypt and Jerusalem, life in Damascus and Tiberias, Howard's postings with UNTSO, her perceptions of local peoples, the history of the region, Christmas, and the multinational environment of the United Nations. Zoe, in turn, writes of her experiences in the Sinai and Cyprus, and living in Syria.

Wallet 7 of 8 - Consists of 34 letters and one postcard written by Joan Howard to friends, family and Keith Howard between January 1971 and December 1976 while living with Colonel Howard in the Middle East. She writes of her travels through Iran, Lebanon, the United Kingdom, Syria, the Sinai, Turkey and the United States, living in Damas, Tiberias, Cairo and Jerusalem, Howard's work and postings within UNTSO and hand in raising UNEF II, observing Easter in the Middle East, the UN Welfare and Recreation Committee, tensions and cease fire violations, the Yom Kippur War, hearing the sounds of battle and the welfare of UN families, and her return to Australia. The wallet also includes 17 notes Joan wrote of her observations and experiences while living in the Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War.

Wallet 8 of 8 - Consists of a circa 1970s photograph of Colonel Howard and copies of 7 documents and letters written between 1976 and 2004. The wallet includes a document by Howard on the history of Jewish and Arabic peoples in the Middle East, a performance report on Howard completed by Major General Emmanuel Erskine in 1976, an address by Howard on UNTSO and his experiences as a Military Observer, and correspondence regarding Howard's interview for the Australians at War Film Archive.