Curtis family World War Two correspondence and photographs
Collection
William 'Bill' Curtis (service number QX9680) served with the 2/1st Motor Ambulance Convoy in the Middle East and later New Guinea. His correspondence starts in June 1940 when he is in Redbank camp and continues through the whole of his war service. Bill actively engaged with the local culture in the Middle East, meeting with and learning from the South Brisbane Syrian community prior to embarking, learning Arabic on the ship over, and writing descriptive letters home detailing the people that he met, customs he observed and places he visited including Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Solomon Islands and Bougainville. The collection includes a photograph album of images taken by Bill during his service in the Middle East.
William 'Bill' Kennedy Curtis, John 'Jack' Henry Curtis, and Robert 'Bob' Curtis were three of the five sons of Eileen Maude and Kennedy Howe Curtis who operated a dairy farm at Closeburn near Samford in Brisbane. Bill, born 2 November 1916, enlisted in the army for World War Two at Kelvin Grove, Brisbane. John 'Jack', born 20 March 1920, enlisted with the RAAF in Brisbane, service number 414911. 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.
Multiple copyright statuses.