5062AD/12: Diary 5 May 1945 - 11 May 1945

Summary

Diaries (1942-1945), including one written on a toilet roll, covering the period from the final action before surrender at Al Alamein, life as a prisoner of war, up to the liberation of the camp by the Americans; logbooks (1939-1944); [theatre programmes (1943-1945) and menu for Chrismas day (1944) at the Weinsberg camp; Australian Red Cross gift box; pay books (1940-1945); record of service book (1940-1945)] and transcripts by Stewart's daughter."Shuttled between five desert camps before being flown to Italy, Stewart remained a POW of both the Italians and the Germans, until 1 May 1945, when liberated by American troops. At considerable risk, Stewart secretly recorded his experiences on a toilet roll between 27 July and 12 September 1942, later continuing in two notebooks. He hid them in a Red Cross gift box. The toilet-roll diary provides a fascinating insight into the daily life of a prisoner. While most entries attest to the tedium of camp life, some entries are poignant: ‘Did Jack come through? Where is Smithie? ... a few scraps of information and suddenly I get a nasty shock. They tell me Jimmie Allen is dead.’ (Entry for 27 July 1942) Stewart’s daughter has since transcribed this unusual diary, as the paper is very brittle now—after all, it was never designed to last. " - taken from National Library of Australia, National Treasures page viewed on 10 March 2015 http://nationaltreasures.nla.gov.au/index/Treasures/item/nla.int-ex9-s15.