Queanbeyan East Public School

Collection relating to the service of Australian Defence Force personnel and United States Marines in Somalia, Rwanda and East Timor, 1993-1994, 2001.

Wallet 1 of 2 - Consists of three original letters, a card, a timeline, and a photocopied scrapbook of news articles and correspondence between students in one class at Queanbeyan East Public School and Australian and United States Marine personnel deployed to Somalia and Rwanda in 1993-1994. The collection includes a letter from Elizabeth Reddy, the class teacher, explaining how the initiative began as a drive to donate supplies to an orphanage in Mogadishu, Somalia, which inspired the class to write to Australian peacekeepers and, later, some United States Marines, who responded in turn. The original letters, written by Captain Andrew Hall and Lieutenant Colonel (later Major General) Brian Dawson, describe their work in Somalia, the weather and the local animals. The scrapbook includes copies of newspaper articles about the initiative, as well as copies of the letters each student received from the peacekeepers. The peacekeepers write of the role of the United Nations and the conditions in Somalia, and thank the children for writing to (and thinking of) them. The scrapbook also features correspondence between Reddy and the Australian War Memorial about the initiative, and two items of correspondence between Reddy and the Australian contingent deployed as part of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda in December 1994, thanking Reddy and her class for the donation of Christmas decorations.

Wallet 2 of 2 - Consists of 17 letters written to Elizabeth Reddy students of Queanbeyan East Public School by Australian Defence Force personnel deployed as part of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor in March 2001. The peacekeepers write of their work in Dili, their service with the Australian Army or Royal Australian Air Force, the conditions and natural environment in East Timor, discuss a little of their home or personal life and their interests, and thank the children for writing to them. Some of the letters include jokes and ask the children to write again.