The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
Collection relating to the Second World War service of Flight Lieutenant Basil Ashmead Gotto, 100 Squadron, RAF.
Collection consists of a typescript memoir of Gotto's time with 100 Squadron RAF between 1941-1942. It describes in detail flight operations especially in the Vickers Vildebeest aircraft, and later his time as a British prisoner of war after being captured in 1942 by the Japanese in Sumatra. Gotto's original diaries were hidden in the roof of a building in a POW camp in Palembang. Around 1947 a Dutch friend was going to Palembang and Gotto asked him to see if the diaries were still there. They had been discovered, but the friend managed to get them back from the local police station. The original books were retained by Gotto, except for one which was donated to the RAF Museum. Gotto died in 2006.
Also included are edited and unedited transcripts and scans of the original diaries (except for diary 3, the scan of which was found to be corrupt on the CD on which it was submitted) detailing Gotto's service in the Far East and experiences as a Japanese prisoner of war in Sumatra. As well as photos of and biographical information about Gotto, news items relating to 100 Squadron and Vildebeest aircraft, and a hand-drawn map of Java with aerodromes.
Papers of Sister Agnes Betty Jeffrey, an Australian Army Nurse with 8 Division AIF and a prisoner of war in Palembang camp, Sumatra 1942-1945. The papers comprise handwritten diaries, letters, scrapbo
Collection relating to the Second World War service of 408173 Flight Lieutenant Ambrose Haley, No. 93 Squadron RAF, Australia, United Kingdom, South Africa, Germany, 1938-1945, 1951-1952. Wallet 1 of
Collection relating to the Second World War service of 403980 Flight Lieutenant Arthur Frederick Blackwell, 500 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Mediterranean and
RECOLLECTION OF EVENTS LEADING UP TO HER CAPTURE ON BANKA ISLAND, TRANSPORT TO PALEMBANG WOMEN'S CAMP AND LATER REGULAR ENTRIES OF LIFE AS A POW IN CAMPS AT MUNTOK AND LOEBOCK LINGUAR, SUMATRA, 1942-1
Collection relating to the Second World War service of 400396 Flight Lieutenant Horace Spencer Wills 'Bill' Fordyce, 458 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, Germany, 1944. Wallet 1 of 1 – Consists
Collection relating to the Second World War service of 409982 Flight Lieutenant John Henry Baker, 100 Squadron and 32 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Australia, 1942-1944. Wallet 1 of 1