| Place | Asia: Singapore, Changi |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | PR03425 |
| Collection type | Private Record |
| Record type | Collection |
| Measurement | 1 wallet: 1 cm |
| Object type | Document |
| Maker |
Francis, Dick Haniford, William John |
| Place made | Singapore: Changi |
| Date made | 1942-1944 |
| Access | Open |
| Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
| Copying Provisions | Copyright expired. Copying permitted subject to physical condition. Permission for reproduction not required. |
Schmitt, William Hurtle (Private)
Description
Collection relating to the service of SX9929 Private (Pte) William Schmitt, 2/3 Machine Gun Battalion. The collection includes a document titled 'Execution of 4 POW by Japanese', 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. Pte Schmitt made this pencil copy form the original document in early 1943. Also includes a original letter written by Private (Pte) SX9611 William John (Bill) Haniford to Pte Schmitt. The letter was reportedly smuggled from River Valley Road Camp, where Pte Haniford was held after working on the Burma Thai Railway, to Changi Prison where Pte Schmitt was a prisoner of war. The letter is dated 'Nov 13' and Bill Schmitt believed it to have been written in 1944. Pte Haniford returned to Australia after the war, and died in South Australia on 3 October 1946.