Letters from World War II revealed! by the Stonnington History Centre

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Stonnington History Centre

Letters from World War II revealed!

For the first time, hundreds of World War II letters and postcards are now searchable on the History Centre’s catalogue.

During the early days of the Second World War, the City of Malvern Council acquired the names of all residents serving overseas for the purpose of sending items of comfort to each. These items included a birthday and Christmas card, sent each year to every individual from Malvern serving in the armed forces. This practice continued throughout the war. Not all cards arrived, some were returned unopened.

Many who received their cards, men and women posted on every fighting front, some from German prison camps, wrote letters of thanks to the Council. Many letters came from their wives, parents or other relatives, written on their behalf. Along with the name, the letters may include the serial number, rank, battalion and regiment of the enlisted.

The names of those who wrote to Council have now been indexed to the History Catalogue.

Searching for war letters by surname

1. Go to the History Centre's Advanced Search.
2. Enter Letters & World War into the Title field.
3. Enter a soldier's surname into the Proper Name field. Omit the surname if you want to browse all war letter catalogue records.
4. Click on the Submit Query button. This will locate the letter in the History Centre archive and if you come into the Centre, a staff member will be able to access the letter for you.

If you need further assistance or wish to view the letter at the History Centre, contact the Stonnington History Centre.

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Last post for soldiers' letters

By EDDIE MORTON [e-mail]

April 29, 2013, 5:30 a.m.

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  Stonnington History Centre volunteers Ellen Porter and Geoff Currey look at one of the estimated 1500 letters from soldiers duringWorldWar II. Picture: Eddie Morton

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  Some of the letters. Picture: Eddie Morton

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  Some of the letters. Picture: Eddie Morton

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  Some of the letters. Picture: Eddie Morton

 

TWO years ago Stonnington historian Ellen Porter made a startling discovery.

As is often the way with exciting finds, she was "searching for other things" at the time. "I noticed a very, very large collection of letters that had not been catalogued … I knew it had to be something significant," Ms Porter, an historian at the Stonnington History Centre, said.

The box contained more than 1500 letters from soldiers during World War II and for the past two years, Ms Porter and long-time volunteer Geoff Currey have read, indexed and catalogued every letter, now available on public record.

Mr Currey, who volunteered for the job, was amazed by the find.

The letters, which came from as far as Egypt, Germany, Canada and Singapore, have not been seen or read since World War II.

"What also makes the letters important is that they are not official war histories or reminiscences. These are as-it-happened and on-the-spot, contemporarily written letters by guys and girls who had never left home before, but were dumped into the horrors and tedium of war," Mr Currey said.

"Some are funny and others very moving especially if you know the person was killed not long after sending the letter.

"One thing that all of them say in one way or another is, 'I cannot wait for this war to be over so I can come home'."

During the war, the City of Malvern (as it was known then) sent every service man and woman a birthday and Christmas card during their service along with a leather wallet gift.

The Stonnington History Centre is calling for any World War II veterans that remember receiving a birthday card from the council during their service to contact the history centre, as letters they wrote in response may be among those recently sorted. All names are searchable at stonnington.vic.gov.au/history.