Letters of Bruce Warren Fleming, November 1941 - October 1942

Fleming, Bruce Warren (Flying Officer, b.1915 - d.1986)

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Places	Africa: Egypt Africa: Egypt, Alexandria Africa: Egypt, Cairo Africa: Eritrea, Asmara Africa: Libya Approximate locations: At sea Middle East: Israel, Jerusalem Middle East: Lebanon Middle East: Lebanon, Beirut Middle East: Syria Middle East: Syria, Damascus Middle East: Yemen, Aden Oceania: Australia, New South Wales, Sydney
Accession Number	AWM2020.22.1
Collection number	PR01188
Collection type	Digitised Collection
Record type	Item
Item count	1
Object type	Letter
Physical description	116 Image/s captured
Maker	Fleming, Bruce Warren
Date made	1941-1942
Conflict	Second World War, 1939-1945
Copying Provisions	Digital format and content protected by copyright.
Source credit to	This item has been digitised with funding provided by Commonwealth Government.

Description

Letters relating to the Second World War service of 403239 Sergeant Bruce Warren Fleming, Royal Australian Air Force.

In his first volume, consisting of 68 letters to his parents dated between November 1941 and October 1942, Fleming relates stories of his experiences as a Royal Australian Air Force officer serving in the Middle East. Some of these experiences include the sea voyage from Australia to Egypt, sightseeing, irregular mail, air raids, catching a chameleon, receiving comforts from the Australian Comforts Fund, spending time in Cairo, visiting an Australian soldier in hospital, meeting Italian and German prisoners of war, serving in the desert, visiting Lebanon and Palestine, feeling homesick, and crossing the Red Sea in a small boat.

While he is not able to say a great deal about his own work, Fleming does comment on the state of the war in other parts of the world and regularly reflects on his feelings surrounding the war in general. He also describes, in detail, the many landscapes and different types of people he encounters.

As Fleming’s parents received his letters, they commissioned typed copies of them and later bound them in chronological order into this manuscript format.