| Accession Number | P02551.006 |
|---|---|
| Collection type | Photograph |
| Object type | Black & white |
| Physical description | Black & white |
| Maker |
Unknown |
| Place made | Czechoslovakia |
| Date made | 1943-1945 |
| Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
1942. Informal group portrait of Private Lawrence Phillip Saywell, 17th Brigade Company, ...
Description
1942. Informal group portrait of Private Lawrence Phillip Saywell, 17th Brigade Company, Australian Army Service Corps (second from left wearing glasses), 26403 Private Sydney O. C. (Mac) Kerkham of New Zealand (left wearing a cap) and two Russians. In January 1943, these men escaped from Kommando E7010 (a prison camp in Bohemia) during a route march. They were sheltered by local villagers and in return offered to assist the Czech partisans in their sabotage operations. Private Saywell was murdered - shot in the head by a German SS Patrol on 8 May 1945 (VE Day), he was the last Australian killed in Europe. He was the son of Mrs Gertrude Saywell of Double Bay, NSW. Private Saywell is buried in the Evangelical Cemetery in Miretin, Czechoslovakia. Five months after his death, a memorial was erected in his honour by the "grateful inhabitants of the village of Miretin". In November 1945, the President of the Czechoslovak Republic awarded Private Saywell the Czechoslovak Military Cross for his "brave and eminent services to our State in the battle for liberation".