| Places | |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | AWM2022.6.20 |
| Collection number | PR03425 |
| Collection type | Digitised Collection |
| Record type | Wallet |
| Item count | 1 |
| Object type | Papers |
| Physical description | 6 Image/s captured |
| Maker |
Francis, Dick Haniford, William John |
| Place made | Singapore: Changi |
| Date made | 1942-1944 |
| Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
Wallet 1 of 1 - Collection relating to the service of SX9929 Private William Schmitt, 2/3 Machine Gun Battalion, 1942-1944
Description
Collection relating to the service of SX9929 Private (Pte) William Schmitt, 2/3 Machine Gun Battalion, 1942-1944.
Wallet 1 of 1 contains a document titled 'Execution of 4 POW by Japanese', and a letter written by Private SX9611 William John (Bill) Haniford to Private Schmitt.
The document was originally written by Sergeant Dick Francis of 8 Division Intelligence after witnessing the execution of Australian soldiers: Privates Rodney Edward Breavington (1904-1942) and Victor Lawrence Gale (1919-1942), and two English soldiers, near Changi prison camp on 2 September 1942. Private Schmitt made this pencil copy form the original document in early 1943.
The letter was reportedly smuggled from River Valley Road Camp, where Private Haniford was held after working on the Burma Thai Railway, to Changi Prison where Private Schmitt was a prisoner of war. The letter is dated 'Nov 13' and Bill Schmitt believed it to have been written in 1944. Private Haniford returned to Australia after the war, and died in South Australia on 3 October 1946.