| Places | |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | AWM2017.536.1 |
| Collection type | Private Record |
| Record type | Collection |
| Measurement | Extent: 1 cm; Wallet/s: 1 |
| Object type | Document |
| Maker |
Leacy, John Kavanagh Unknown |
| Place made | Germany |
| Date made | 1941-1945 |
| Access | Open |
| Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
| Copying Provisions | Copyright expired. Copying permitted subject to physical condition. Permission for reproduction not required., Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction. |
Leacy, John Kavanagh (Private, b.1912 - d.1991)
Description
Collection relating to the Second World War service of NX7764 Private John Kavanagh Leacy, 2/1 Australian Infantry Battalion, Germany, 1941-1945.
Collection consists of 4 documents.
- 1 x Certified translation of a ‘Decree of Accusation’ relating to the ‘Court-Martial of the 413th Division – Section Würzburg’ dated 31 August 1944. The document describes five Australian soldiers (including Leacy) who were interned at Stalag XIIIc in Hammelburg, escaping on a regular basis to meet German women throughout the period of December 1943 and Whitsun 1944 (29 May). This document names the five accused Australian soldiers, their five German love interests (all refugees from the Rhineland and wives of German soldiers), and the activities they were accused of undertaking.
- 1 x POW lettercard (with large section missing), from Leacy to his family, postmarked 25 August 1941, but written between late May and late August that year. The lettercard asks his family to send him lots of chocolate – a method of currency that is noted in the above ‘Decree of Accusation’.
- 1 x 5-page account in German describing the visit to Buchenwald concentration camp by residents of the nearby city of Weimar. This document was likely collected by Leacy, who was fluent in German, during his time on leave after his liberation by American soldiers on 6 April 1945. The document describes the volunteering of residents to visit the camp, as initiated by American soldiers. It discusses the way that soldiers directed residents around the camp, when they were filmed, a first-hand description of Ilsa Koch’s preservation of human remains, the layout of the camp, and testimonies given to the residents from political prisoners explaining their internment.
- 1 x 7 page typed translation of the document above. This copy was likely produced around 1970 or later.