Bird, Walter Charles (Gunner, b.1912 - d.1981)

Collection relating to the Second World War service of QX1874 Gunner Walter Charles Bird, 2/10 Field Regiment, Second Australian Imperial Force, Malaya and Japan, 1942-1945.

Wallet 1 of 2 - Contains two folders of material relating to Gunner Walter Charles Bird.
Wallet 1 of 2, Folder 1 of 2 consists of one diary of Gunner Bird. This diary was written on loose sheets of paper during Gunner Bird’s time as a prisoner of war of the Japanese, between 1942 and 1945. In his diary, Gunner Bird writes about the surrender of Allied forces at Singapore, life in Changi Prisoner of War Camp, food quality and quantity, camp sanitation, being part of a work party at Bukit Timah, interactions with the Japanese, interactions with the local people, recreational activities, frog racing, being transported to Japan by boat, life in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, being part of various work parties, beatings by Japanese guards, inadequate rations, and observations of Japanese civilians.
Wallet 1 of 2, Folder 2 of 2 consists of one typed transcript of diary of Gunner Bird.

Wallet 2 of 2 – Contains two folders of material relating to Gunner Walter Charles Bird.
Wallet 2 of 2, Folder 1 of 2 consists of one exercise book containing a partial handwritten copy of the diary of Gunner Bird.
Wallet 2 of 2, Folder 2 of 2 consists of one letter from 'Ray' [identity unknown] to Gunner Bird, Singapore, 12 July 1942. Ray, a fellow prisoner of war in a different camp, writes about his health, missing their chats, war news, and the removal of two of his teeth. A program for a frog race is written on the reverse of one of the pages, dated 12 October 1942.