Stone, Robert Phillip (Sergeant, b.1916 - d.1994)

Collection relating to the Second World War service of NX56144 Sergeant Robert Phillip Stone, 2/6 Australian General Hospital, Second Australian Imperial Force, Australia, at sea, the Middle East and Greece, 1940-1942.

Wallet 1 of 1 – Consists of one diary of Sergeant Robert Phillip Stone, containing entries dated between 2 July 1940 and 27 June 1942. This diary covers the period of Sergeant Stone’s embarkation and service with 2/6 Australian General Hospital in Palestine, Egypt, Greece and Lebanon. In his diary, Sergeant Stone writes about his enlistment, receiving his posting to 2/6 Australian General Hospital, doing his general and specialised training, embarkation, life on board the ship, working in a hospital ward and operating theatre on the ship, having leave in Ceylon, disembarking in Egypt, travelling to Palestine, settling into camp, his impressions of Palestine, assisting in the operating theatre, sightseeing in nearby towns while on leave, organising medical stores, and travelling to Greece. He then goes on to write about establishing a hospital in Athens, receiving letters from home, German air raids, being on emergency ambulance duty, looking after patients near the front line, evacuating Greece in the midst of heavy enemy bombing, sheltering in an orange grove on Crete, evacuating from Crete, settling back in Palestine, swimming, hearing news of the war, temporarily serving in the hospital wards of 2/1 General Hospital, serving with an x-ray section in Beirut, travelling in Lebanon, and looking forward to returning home. This diary also contains a good luck charm in the shape of a black cat.