Australia Remembers Second World War Oral History

Oral history with Thomas Cecil Kitchen who served as a trooper with the Australian Light Horse Citizens Military Force (CMF) and a flying officer with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during the Second World War. He was a bomber pilot and he speaks about his memories of the Second World War and the Bismarck Sea Battle.

Oral history with Charles (Anzac) Barry who served as a warrant officer class 2 2/6th Australian Field Regiment in the Middle East and South West Pacific Area during the Second World War. He was in artillery.

Oral history with Allan Alexander (Bill) Stafford who served as a flying officer with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Nos 518 and 281 Squadrons Royal Air Force (RAF), North West Europe during the Second World War. He was a wireless operator and air gunner in bombers.

Oral history with Francis (Frank) William Kirkham who served as an able seaman with the Australian Merchant Navy, South West Pacific Area during the Second World War.

Oral history with William (Bill) Maxwell Sutherland who served as a private with the 2/23rd Australian Infantry Battalion, North Africa during the Second World War. He was a 'Tobruk Rat' (El Alemain) and was court marshalled along with five other experienced desert fighters for refusing to obey an inexperienced officer's order that may have endangered his life. He spent 18 months in jail. It took until 1974 (32 years later) before they were pardoned by the Whitlam Labor government.

Oral history with Noel Anthony Carey who served as a corporal in the 2/3rd Independent Company later 2/3rd Australian Commando Squadron, South West Pacific Area in the Second World War.

Oral history with William Hepworth who served as a trooper with the 6th Airborne Division British Army, North West Europe in the Second World War. He was an airborne glider trooper.

Oral history with Robert James Dick who served as a lieutenant colonel Commanding Officer with the 2/17th Australian Infantry Battalion, Middle East and South West Pacific Area in the Second World War.

Oral history with Kevin James Biltoff who served as a flight sergeant navigator with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Bomber Command Royal Air Force (RAF), North West Europe in the Second World War.

Oral history with Douglas Noel Green who served as a private with the 106th Casualty Clearing Station (CCS), South West Pacific Area in the Second World War.

Oral history with Frank Morton Griggs who served as a pilot with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Nos 218, 214 and 109 Squadrons Royal Air Force (RAF) and No 404 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), North West Europe in the Second World War. He was a bomber pilot and pathfinder during the Second World War.

Oral history with Gordon Frederick Hallett who served as a corporal with the 16th Advanced Ordnance Depot in the Second World War. He was awarded a military medal for bravery.

Oral history with John (Jack) Matthew O'Donnell who served as a lieutenant with the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV), South Vietnam in the Vietnam War.

Please be advised that the stories in this interview may be explicit and horrific to some.

Oral history with Ronald Raymond Ricardo who served as a stoker on the HMAS Shropshire, Royal Australian Navy, South Pacific Area in the Second World War.

Oral history with John Norris Parker who served as a squadron leader Commanding Officer No 1 (Bomber) Operational Conversion Unit RAAF in the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

Oral history with Alan Lee Potts who served as an able seaman Royal Navy, South West Pacific Area in the Second World War. He was a seaman in the British Royal Navy on the HMS Ulster and speaks about his memories of naval battles in the Pacific.

Oral history with Allan Manning Richards who served as a member of the 2/13th Australian Infantry Battalion 9th Division, Middle East and South Pacific Area in the Second World War.

Oral history with Victor Tudor McMinn who served as a sergeant with the No 5 Repair and Salvage Unit RAAF, South West Pacific Area in the Second World War. He escaped from Singapore, Sumatra and Java.

Oral history with Doris Margaret Davidson (nee Devon) who served as a corporal with the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force in the Second World War. She was a clerk in the Women's Australian Air Force and worked on many RAAF bases in Australia.

Oral history with John Sims Archer who served as a flight lieutenant with the No 4 and No 75 Squadron RAAF, New Guinea and Morotai in the Second World War. He was the only Australian pilot to shoot down a Japanese Zero fighter in a Wirraway - a much inferior fighter aircraft compared the the Japanese Zero.

Oral history with Jean May James who served as a Corporal with the 1 Recruiting Centre RAAF, Melbourne in the Second World War.

Oral history with Merle Mildred Ronan (nee Henery) who served as a gunner with the 51st and 60th Search Light Units, Newcastle area in the Second World War.

Oral history with Arthur Charles Jordan who served as a private/lance corporal with the 2/25th Australian Infantry Battalion, Middle East and South West Pacific Area in the Second World War. He speaks of his experiences through four combat campaigns as an infantryman posted in North Africa, Syria, New Guinea, and Borneo.

Oral history with George Livingston McKinnon who served as a corporal shift supervisor with the 4 Wireless Unit RAAF, Philippines in the Second World War. He speaks about his experiences as a morse code operator receiving Japanese wireless signals (all Kana code). He assisted in cracking the Japanese messages that helped to win the war.

Oral history with Nancy Isabel Head (nee Wilson) who served as a corporal and clerk with the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force in the Second World War. She was posted at Parkes Central Flying Station, Point Cook in Victoria, and Adelaide.

Oral history with John Tassell who served as a leading seaman radio and radar technician with the Royal Australian Navy in the Second World War and the Korean War. He was posted on HMAS Albatross and the aircraft carrier, HMAS Sydney.

Oral history with Jack Thomas Hubbard who served as a private with the 11th Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps in the Second World War. He was a shipwright at Cockatoo Dockyards in Sydney where he repaired battle damaged ships.

Oral history with William Henry Jenkins who served with the 2/1st Australian Infantry Battalion, Middle East and New Guinea in the Second World War. William Jenkins was an infantryman in the 6th Division. He fought in the North African Campaign against the Italians and Germans in Tobruk and Bardia, as well as New Guinea against the Japanese.

Oral history with James Brian Condon who served as a leading aircraftman crew chief with the Nos 36 and 38 Squadrons RAAF, New Guinea in the Second World War. He was seconded to the USA 6th Troop Carrier Squadron.

Oral history with Quentin Francis Snow who served as a Royal Australian Air Force flying officer air gunner with the No 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron and No 49 Squadron Royal Air Force, North West Europe in the Second World War. He was an air gunner in bomber command over Europe.

Oral history with Gerald Rosenberg who served as a private with the 85th Australian Light Aid Detachment (Anti Tank Regiment) and was a prisoner of the Japanese, Malaya 1941-1945 in the Second World War. He speaks about being a prisoner of war by the Japanese in Singapore and on the Burma / Thai Railway.