Anderson, Frank Douglas (Lance Sergeant, b.1919 - d.1998)

Collection relating to the Second World War service of VX151840 (V65884) Lance Sergeant Frank Douglas Anderson, 2 New Guinea Infantry Battalion, Second Australian Imperial Force, Australia, New Guinea and Europe, 1945-c1986.

Wallet 1 of 2 – Consists of one memoir of Lance Sergeant Frank Douglas Anderson. This memoir consists of typed transcripts of letters, photographs, and maps, and covers the period of Lance Sergeant Anderson’s service with 2 New Guinea Infantry Battalion in New Guinea between May 1945 and June 1946. In his memoir, Lance Sergeant Anderson writes about the voyage to New Guinea, interactions with New Guinean troops, being attached to a Regimental Aid Post, hearing news of the end of the war in Europe, life in the camp, taking care of local patients in hospital, learning Pidgin English, sitting exams, living near a volcano, going on exercises in the bush, studying in his spare time, administering vaccinations, attending a local sing-song, being posted to different camps, living conditions, trading with local people, being close to Japanese troops, artillery fire on Japanese positions, occupying previous Japanese positions, listening to local gossip regarding the Japanese troops, sending home souvenirs, assisting local people with medical treatments, receiving air-dropped supplies, efforts to clear remaining Japanese troops from the jungle, and hearing news relating to the end of the war. He goes on to write about problems with Japanese prisoners of war, Japanese surrender, the work of the War Graves Commission, playing sports, the difficult situation in which some local people found themselves after Japanese occupation, waiting for demobilisation, having a painful skin condition, administering anaesthetic during operations on patients, weather conditions, his plans for life after his return to Australia, returning to Victoria, working in a clinic, having a bout of malaria, and his discharge.

Wallet 2 of 2 – Consists of one passport, one page of notes, two hand drawn maps, five sections of manuscript, and 48 letters relating to the work of Lance Sergeant Frank Douglas Anderson as an Interviewing Officer with the Migration Office, Australian Military Mission, in Europe between 1949 and 1951. These items were created between 1949 and c1986, and contain details of Lance Sergeant Anderson’s work of interviewing people displaced by war and assessing applications for their migration to Australia. These items were intended to be used by Lance Sergeant Anderson to compile an additional volume of his memoir.

An additional collection relating to Lance Sergeant Frank Douglas Anderson can be found at AWM2018.1283.1.