Curtis family World War Two correspondence and photographs

William 'Bill' Kennedy Curtis, enlisted in the army during the Second World War at Kelvin Grove, Brisbane, service number QX9680.

He worked as a fitter in the 2/1st Motor Ambulance Convoy. After training at Redbank, Bill was posted to various places in the Middle East, North Queensland, Adelaide, Solomon Islands and Bougainville. He was interested in different languages and cultures, and while in the Middle East he travelled widely to visit villages to learn the languages, experience the food and befriend local people. Bill read widely, had access to news from socialist and leftist organisations, and attended weekly discussion groups. His weekly letters to his parents related his views on the progress of the war, international and Australian news, as well as contemporary economic and political issues. He regularly shared news of his close friends Fred Moody (QX10049) and Peter Hely (QX18508).  Bill was discharged from the Army in 1945 after more than five years’ service.

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John 'Jack' Henry Curtis was born on 20 March 1920. At the outbreak of the war Jack was working at Mount Morgan mine. He joined the reserves and did initial training at Mount Morgan, before being accepted into the Royal Australian Air Force in July 1941, service number 414911. He trained at Cootamundra and Evans Head, and was posted to Adelaide as an instructor. During his time in Adelaide he returned home on leave to marry Patricia Foote in August 1943. Shortly after the wedding, he was sent for further training in Bairnsdale and Lowood, and eventually to New Guinea.

During this whole period he wrote home almost weekly, letting his parents know his whereabouts and what his daily life was like. He maintained an active interest in the farm at Closeburn, often enquiring about crops, rain, the sale of pigs, the farm machinery, and also asking after other members of the family and friends. Jack Curtis studied engineering at the University of Queensland after the war, specialising in telecommunications and went on to become the founding Managing Director of Telecom Australia from 1975 to 1981.

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Robert 'Bob' Curtis was a boarding student at Ipswich Grammar School during the Second World War. He wrote to his parents weekly, describing day to day life in the boarding school, rugby and cricket matches, visits to the Foote family home near Ipswich, and movies he's seen. Parts of the Ipswich Grammar School were taken over the US Forces in 1942, and Bob and his friends watched baseball games and walked to the Amberley airbase to see American aircraft, especially the Kittyhawks.  He often asks for news of his brother Bill who is fighting overseas and speaks of visits with his brother Jack when he is on home leave.

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An album containing approximately 50 black and white photographs taken by William 'Bill Curtis' during his service in the Middle East. There are photographs of local people, Bedouin policeman and shepherds, of Bill and his friends riding donkeys, and attractions such as churches, gardens, the Pyramids, the Gihon Spring in Jerusalem and places in Palestine. The album has wooden covers with a painted Egyptian scene and is bound with twine. There is also a portrait of Bill Curtis wearing military uniform.