Letters of Jack Lusby Burns, 1941-1945

Letters relating to the Second World War service of VX39159 Lieutenant Jack Lusby Burns, 1st Independent Company. This file contains correspondence between Jack Lusby Burns and his parents, Albert and Minnie Burns, written between July 1941 and October 1945. In his early letters to his parents, Burns describes his experiences of the voyage to New Ireland, New Guinea, taking part in various sports, a turtle race, being camped close to an unpleasantly active volcano, attending a dance, being assigned the role of Finance and Canteen Officer, and travelling through jungle.

In January 1942, New Ireland was taken by the Japanese, and Burns was captured as a prisoner of war. He was interned, mainly in Zentsuji Camp in Japan, until the end of the war. Though his letters from this period are short and few, he does describe what he can of life in the camp, such as playing cards and cricket, gardening, and keeping rabbits. He also expresses his appreciation for Red Cross parcels and thanks his parents for the letters they sent him. Burns was liberated after Japan’s surrender in September 1945, and his letters document his experiences of walking out of the camp for the last time, finally feeling full of food, flying over Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the journey home, and looking forward to seeing his family again.

This file contains:
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, 11 July 1941
Incomplete letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, [c. July 1941]
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, [c. July 1941]
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, [c. July 1941]
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, [c. Late July 1941]
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, [c. early August 1941]
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, [c. early August 1941]
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, [c. August 1941]
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert Burns, [c. August 1941]
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert Burns, [c. August 1941]
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, [c. late August 1941]
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, [c. September 1941]
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, 8 September 1941
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, 15 September 1941
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, 21 September 1941
Incomplete letter from Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, [c. September/October 1941]
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, [c. October 1941]
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, 24 October- 3 November 1941
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, 26 October 1941
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, 17 November 1941
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, 30 November 1941
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, 9 December 1941
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, 14 December 1941
Note from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert Burns, [c. December 1941]
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, 4 January 1942
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, 14 January 1942
Letter from Minnie Burns to Jack Lusby Burns, Glen Iris, 18 January 1942
Letter from Minnie Burns to Jack Lusby Burns, Glen Iris, 8 March 1942
Incomplete letter from Minnie Burns to Jack Lusby Burns, [date unknown]
Letter from Minnie Burns to Jack Lusby Burns, Glen Iris, 12 May 1942
Letter from Minnie Burns to Jack Lusby Burns, Glen Iris, 20 May 1942
Transcripts of letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, Zentsuji Camp, 22 August 1942, [two copies]
Transcript of letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, Zentsuji Camp, 24 October 1942
Transcript of letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, Zentsuji Camp, May 1943
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, Zentsuji Camp, December 1943, [includes envelope and copy]
Transcript of letters from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, Zentsuji Camp, 25 January and April 1944
Transcript of letters from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, Zentsuji Camp, 9 October, November and December 1944
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, 12 September 1945, [includes envelope]
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, 15 September 1945
Letter from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, 19 September 1945
Telegram from Jack Lusby Burns to Albert and Minnie Burns, 1 October 1945