Brown, Ralph (HMAS Stuart, RAN)

Collection relating to the Second World War service of 6224 Able Seaman Ralph Brown, HMAS Stuart, Royal Australian Navy, At sea, c. August 1941 - 1943.

Wallet 1 of 1 - Photocopy of a typescript chronicle titled "A Destroyer’s Two Years of War (Chronicles of HMAS Stuart)" covering the service of HMAS Stuart from September 1939 to August 1941, and issued to ship's personnel including this copy held by Able Seaman Ralph Brown. The chronicle outlines the recommissioning of HMAS Stuart at the outbreak of the war and her subsequent escort and patrol work across the Eastern Mediterranean. The chronicle also features detailed accounts of notable events involving HMAS Stuart including bombardments of Bardia, the Battle of Calabria, the bombardment of Bomba, scuttling the Italian submarine Gondar, the Western Desert Campaign, the Battle of Cape Matapan, the evacuation of Allied troops from Greece and Crete, and the 'Tobruk Ferry Service'. The appendix contains a chronological summary of air and submarine attacks on HMAS Stuart during her service in the Eastern Mediterranean. The chronicle also includes two poems: an unattributed piece titled "War Poem" and "The Grey Old Lady" by Leslie Edward Stuart Clifford. The latter features 67 stanzas and some slight differences in wording to the 73-stanza version of the poem found in MSS1226.

The collection also contains a book titled "East of Malta, West of Suez: The Admiralty Account of the Naval War in the Eastern Mediterranean September 1939 to March 1941" prepared for the Admiralty by the Ministry of Information and published by His Majesty's Stationary Office, London, 1943. As stated in the publication's preamble, "This book describes the work of the British Navy in the Eastern Mediterranean from the outbreak of the war until the spring of 1941...", and includes detailed accounts of major naval engagements such as the Battle of Taranto and the Battle of Cape Matapan.

• Wallet 1 of 1 - Chronicle titled "A Destroyer’s Two Years of War (Chronicles of HMAS Stuart)", c. August 1941
• Wallet 1 of 1 - Book titled "East of Malta, West of Suez: The Admiralty Account of the Naval War in the Eastern Mediterranean September 1939 to March 1941", 1943