Permit to board Ships : Ordinary Seaman D J Edgar

A Commonwealth of Australia-issued "Permit to board Ships" issued under the National Security (General) Regulations. The card is made from bright yellow cloth-reinforced card with a narrow reinforced brown buckram spine. Internally, the pass has been filled out in ink with the following details: "Permit no: 4797 / Name: David James Edgar / of: HMAS "Leuwin" / Occupation: Ordinary Seaman / permitted to board: all vessels / during the period ending 31st May 1941." The pass is signed by Edgar and has been countersigned and dated on 21/9/40 by the issuing officer, and stamped in purple ink: NAVAL RESERVE DEPOT, FREMANTLE W.A. 21 SEP 1940. A hole has been punched in the top left corner of the pass, through which a length of string has been passed to tie it to the drawstring of the lining of Edgar's sailor's cap. The pass is stored within the lining.

Sailor's pass associated with the service of F3148 David James Edgar, born 27 January 1914 at Wagin, WA. Edgar enlisted at Fremantle in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in 1940 and saw service aboard HMAS Canberra in the Indian Ocean and the Seychelles, off the eastern coast of Africa, and was present when Canberra sunk the German raider Coburg and her attendant tanker Ketty Brovig on 4 March 1941.

He was discharged on medical grounds (conjunctivitis) and re-enlisted in the Bulk Installation Petroleum Distribution Service (BIPODS - a militia unit) - a unit which, according to his son, 'did most of its very casual training around the Raffles Hotel in Applecross, near Fremantle'. With the distinct likelihood being that he would be sent to guard a fuel dump somewhere in the back end of the Simpson Desert, Dave joined the RAAF on 4 December 1942.

As 82565, Edgar trained as an engine fitter in West Australia and Victoria, attained the rank of leading aircraftman (LAC) and was posted to 25 (City of Perth) Squadron while they were operating as a defensive squadron flying Vultee Vengeance dive bombers. He was then transferred to 22 (City of Sydney) Squadron, which had been operating Douglas Bostons from Kiriwina Island before moving to Noemfoor Island and converting to Bristol Beaufighters. Edgar continued maintaining these aircraft until the end of the war, finishing his tour on Morotai Island. Edgar is one of the few Australian servicemen to serve in all three services during the Second World War.