Evans, Mervyn (Bill) (Sergeant, b.1916 - d.1943)

Places
Accession Number PR00807
Collection type Private Record
Record type Collection
Measurement 1 cm (26 items)
Object type Papers
Maker Evans, Mervyn
Date made 1941-1945
Access Open
Conflict Second World War, 1939-1945
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Copying Provisions Copyright expired. Copying permitted subject to physical condition. Permission for reproduction not required.
Description

Letters (photocopies) written by QX14699 Sergeant Mervyn (Bill) Evans while serving with 2/26 Battalion to his sister Mrs. Blanche Hornibrook between 1941 and January 1942. Letters to August 1941 detail pre-embarkation training and living conditions in Redbank, Bathurst and Seymour Camps. Letters from August 1941 to January 1942 describe his sea voyage, living conditions, local conditions in Malaya, entertainment including taxi girls, local people, importance of mail and Australian Comforts Fund reading room and clubs. He describes their attitudes towards RAAF known as "Blue Orchids" and assessment of Japanese advance in Malaya. One letter is from Blanche to Bill, probably written in 1944 after Bill had become a Prisoner of War (POW). The papers include official correspondence and telegrams received between April 1942 and January 1945 relating to notification that Bill Evans was a POW, and Red Cross instructions and a letter form used for corresponding with POWs.