| Places |
|
|---|---|
| Accession Number | RCDIG0001092 |
| Collection number | 2DRL/0481 |
| Collection type | Digitised Collection |
| Record type | File |
| Item count | 1 |
| Object type | Letter, Typescript |
| Physical description | 164 Image/s captured |
| Maker |
Raws, John Alexander Raws, Robert Goldthorpe |
| Place made | At sea, Australia, Egypt, France, France, Greece: Aegean Islands, Lemnos, Malta, Ottoman Empire: Turkey, Dardanelles, Gallipoli, Anzac Area (Gallipoli) |
| Date made | 1915-1916; 1927 |
| Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
| Copying Provisions | Digital format and content protected by copyright. |
Photostat copies of letters from John Alexander Raws and Robert Goldthorpe Raws, 1915-1916
Description
Photostat copies of letters relating to the First World War service of Lieutenant Robert Goldthorpe Raws and Second Lieutenant John Alexander Raws, both of 23rd Battalion. This volume, bound by the Australian War Memorial in 1927, consists of photostat copies of transcripts of letters written by the brothers between May 1915 and August 1916. The volume is divided two sections.
The first section consists of letters written by Robert Goldthorpe Raws and also contains biographical details. As a lieutenant with the 23rd Battalion, Raws’ letters detail: the troopship voyage to Egypt on H.M.A.T. Euripides; conditions and routine on board the troopship; arrival and staging in Egypt; daily routine and training in Egypt; sightseeing; a sketch map of the Gallipoli peninsula; deployment to Gallipoli and life in the trenches; observations on conditions and the Turkish Army; various work in and out of the firing line; Anzac Cove; a sketch of his dugout; the evacuation in December 1915; his hospitalisation in Egypt in early 1916; a sketch map of Gezireh; the journey to France on S.S. Osmanieh in March 1916; billeting; route marches; conditions on the Western Front; life in the trenches; a last letter on 22 July 1916 on the eve of the battle of Pozieres. Also included is a series of testimonies from other soldiers as to his fate.
The second section consists of letters written by John Alexander Raws and also contains biographical details. As a second lieutenant with the 23rd Battalion, Raws’ letters detail: the reasons for his enlistment as explained to his father; a diagram depicting prisoner escorts; the arrival in Egypt and the journey to France; training in France; deployment into the front line; the battle of Pozieres with a detailed description and diagrams of the fighting, movements and conditions; the mass casualties to the battalion and the 6th Infantry Brigade; the disappearance of his brother Robert and his search for his brother in No Man’s Land at night; the original Court of Inquiry that deemed Robert as missing in action; the realisation that his brother has been killed; two last letters on 19 August 1916. Also included are several condolence letters from Lieutenant Lionel Gordon Short (also of the 23rd Battalion) and Lieutenant Norman Roberts.
The location of the original letters is unknown.
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