Williams, Frederick Stanley (Private, b.1908)

Collection relating to the Second World War service of NX58210 Private Frederick Stanley Williams, 2/2 Australian Infantry Battalion, Second Australian Imperial Force, Australia, Palestine, and Syria, 1940-1943.

Wallet 1 of 1 – Consists of thirteen letters and one Christmas card from Private Frederick Stanley Williams to his sister, Miss Claire Irma Williams. The correspondence, dated between 28 January 1940 and 15 July 1943, covers the period of Private Williams’ early training, embarkation, and service with 2/2 Australian Infantry Battalion in Palestine, Syria and North Queensland. In his letters, Private Stanley writes about a local band performance, picking peas for money before enlistment, visiting Sydney while on leave, monotonous camp routines, hearing news of the HMAS Sydney, training exercises, embarkation, living conditions on board the boat, swimming in the Mediterranean Sea, settling into camp life in Palestine, his impressions of the local environment and people, playing two-up, being short of money, being on sentry duty, delayed mail, sightseeing while on leave, seeing films at the cinema, the weather, a sports carnival, seeing concerts, serving in Syria, reading books from the camp library, seeing the effects of war on the local landscape, being on sentry duty, thinking of home at Christmas time, receiving parcels from home, settling in to a camp in North Queensland, the large number of Americans in capital cities, being in hospital, and hearing news of the war on the radio.