Howard Bowden Fletcher papers, ca. 1915-ca. 1967, 2014

MLMSS 9667

fonds

ca. 1915-ca. 1967, 2014

Textual Records, Clippings, Ephemera

1222990

0.72 metres of textual material (2 boxes)

Howard Bowden Fletcher was born at Hamilton, Newcastle on 22 November 1890. He enlisted aged 24 and held the rank of Sergeant Major in the 12th Light Horse Regiment being deployed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, in Turkey on 28 August 1915. His diaries provide a daily account of activities in the trenches along the firing line on the right flank of Anzac Cove up until his evacuation on 19 December 1915. He continued in the 12th Light Horse through various camps and deployments in Egypt and Palestine, suffering bouts of illness, before transferring to the Australian Flying Corps as an Observer holding the rank of Lieutenant. Howard Bowden Fletcher returned to Australia in January 1919 and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on 8 February 1919 for gallantry in air combat. He wrote a history of the 12th Light Horse, ‘The Boundary Riders of Egypt’, in 1919 and contributed articles on war and aviation to The Border Post, The Narromine News and other newspapers. He helped form the Queensland Aero Club in the 1920’s, married in 1922 and moved to Narromine in 1929 working as a Stock and Station Agent with George Wheeler. In 1929, Fletcher founded the Narromine Aero Club and assisted with a number of international air races. In 1939, he was recalled to active service as head of RAAF Recruitment for New South Wales and given the rank of Squadron Leader. In 1942 he was transferred to the Air Observer School at Cootamundra as Commander. In 1943 he returned to Narromine as Chief Ground Instructor with the RAAF Pilot Training School, and spent time in Canada, the United States and England as an Escort Officer. Howard Bowden Fletcher was discharged in 1945 and moved to Punchbowl, Sydney where he worked as a freelance journalist before retiring in 1947.

References:
Australian War Memorial. http://www.awm.gov.au (accessed April 23, 2015)
Commonwealth Gazette no. 61 (23 May 1919)
Narromine Aeroclub http://www.narromineaeroclub.com (accessed April 23, 2015)
Library Correspondence file

Howard Bowden Fletcher papers, 1915-1969, including war diaries, correspondence, printed material, newspaper clippings and ephemera. Also includes transcriptions of several diaries, ca. 2014

BOX 1
ITEM 01
Howard Bowden Fletcher diary, 9 June 1915-23 August 1915

ITEM 02
Howard Bowden Fletcher diary, 25 August 1915-9 January 1916

ITEM 03
Howard Bowden Fletcher diary, 11 January 1916-30 December 1916

ITEM 04
Howard Bowden Fletcher diary, 9 May 1917-31 December 1917

ITEM 05
Howard Bowden Fletcher diary, 1 January 1918-28 January 1919

BOX 2
ITEM 06
Howard Bowden Fletcher letters to family, 14 August 1914-10 December 1915

ITEM 07
Howard Bowden Fletcher letters to family, 18 January 1916-28 December 1916

ITEM 08
Howard Bowden Fletcher letters to family, 8 January 1917-21 December 1917

ITEM 09
Howard Bowden Fletcher letters to family, 6 January 1918-12 December 1918

ITEM 10
Letters (16) written by H. Bowden Fletcher's parents, Ernest G. Fletcher and Thirza Bowden to H. Bowden Fletcher, 10 January 1915-10 January 1916

ITEM 11
Letters (2) received by H.B. Fletcher written by his sisters Polly Fletcher (nurse) and Muriel Nixson in London to H. B. Fletcher, 1st and 10th January 1916

ITEM 12
Troopship newsletters 'The 12th Punch unwound on HM Transport', Vol. 1, no. 1 (19 June 1915) - Vol. 1, no. 5, (4 July 1915). Stamped Australian Light Horse Regiment

ITEM 13
Scrapbook of newsclippings cross referenced in the troopship newsletter articles, ca. 1915-ca. 1919

ITEM 14
Various letters and certificates from the Commonwealth of Australia awarding the DFC; discharge certificate; cablegrams; Letter from Hudson Fysh and Stanhope Agricultural Society; Photocopy of transcript for several diaries, 1915-1967, 2014; photograph of a painted portrait of Howard Bowden Fletcher by Gertrude Whiting ca. 1947

In copyright:
Copyright holder:: State Library of New South Wales
Approval for publication required:
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales