| Places | |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | PR00930 |
| Collection type | Private Record |
| Record type | Collection |
| Measurement | 1 wallet: 1cm |
| Object type | Book, Papers |
| Maker |
Siffleet, Leonard George (Len) Various |
| Place made | Australia, Territory of Papua and New Guinea: New Guinea |
| Date made | 1941-1969 |
| Access | Open |
| Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
| Copying Provisions | Copyright expired. Copying permitted subject to physical condition. Permission for reproduction not required. |
Siffleet, Leonard George (Sergeant, b.1916 - d.1943)
Description
Papers of and relating to Sergeant Leonard George Siffleet (NX143314), a member of M Special Unit, received or gathered by his sister, Veronica Pearl (later Brodbeck). They comprise:
(1) enlistment and other service papers, 1941-2
(2) letters from Siffleet from Melbourne, Cairns and Port Moresby, concerning mainly family matters and his early service experiences, 1942
(3) official and Red Cross correspondence after he went missing, 1943
(4) post-war official correspondence concerning his death, including a letter from the Directorate of War Graves Services regarding unsuccessful searches for his gravesite, 1946
(5) Siffleet's prayerbook.
Siffleet was executed at Aitape on 24 October 1943 for his role, as a wireless operator, in a commando operation in Japanese occupied New Guinea, while serving with the Allied Intelligence Bureau's M Special Unit. A photograph of his execution became a famous wartime image after it was published in `Life' magazine and is in the AWM Photograph Collection.