Smith, Kenneth Read (Flight Lieutenant, b.1916 - d.1993) Accession Number: PR88/111

Description

Collection relating to the Second World War service of 290514 Flight Lieutenant Kenneth Read Smith DFC, No. 1 Squadron, prisoner of war, Malaya, Java and Burma, 1942-1944.

Wallet 1 of 2 - Contains a small exercise book Smith used as a diary between 8 October 1942 and 26 August 1944. Smith maintains brief and regular entries on the location and movements of No. 1 Squadron and attached units. He also writes of his internment, his relocation from No. 4 Bicycle Camp in Java to Moulmein in Burma as part of A Force, and their work in constructing the Thai-Burma Railway. The diary also contains nominal rolls of Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) personnel interned in Burma.

Wallet 2 of 2 - Consists of a nominal roll of RAAF officers and men interned with Smith, typed and handwritten copies of a brief plotted history of Smith's service, handwritten and typescript copies of an account entitled "The RAAF Unit P.O.W. in Burma", and handwritten and typescript copies of an account of the radio constructed and operated in secret by Corporal Archibald Caswell in Java and along the Thai-Burma Railway.

Details

People

• Leading Aircraftman Archibald Harold Caswell

Conflicts

• Second World War, 1939-1945

Places

• Burma Thailand Railway
• Moulmein
• Java

Units

• No. 1 Squadron

Tags

• Burma Thailand Railway