Robert Buntine World War II RAAF diaries and associated material

MLMSS 11973/Box 1-2

fonds

1926-1957

Textual Records, Ephemera, Clippings, Graphic Materials, Photographs

9673869

0.32 metres of textual material (2 boxes) includes photographs

Flight Sergeant Robert Athol Buntine (1918-1942) (Service number 403554) was born in Petersham, New South Wales to Athol and Christina Buntine. Prior to enlisting in the Royal Australian Air Force in 1941, Robert was employed as an advertising salesman. On 13 August 1942 Flight Sergeant Buntine was on convoy defence with the R.A.F. when his plane was shot down off Malta. His body was never recovered, and he was declared missing, presumed dead. He was 24 years old.

Reference
National Archives of Australia. "Buntine, Robert Athol." Accessed 26 July 2023. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/

BOX 1

Folder 1
Letters, postcards and telegrams from Robert Buntine chiefly to his parents, Athol and Buntine and his brother and sister-in-law, Hugh and Rene Buntine, 1926, 1940-1941
Includes letters sent pre-enlistment, a 1941 letter with words cut out by censors and postcards from Canada and New York.

Folder 2
Letters, postcards and telegrams from Robert Buntine chiefly to his parents, Athol and Buntine and his brother and sister-in-law, Hugh and Rene Buntine, 1942
Includes postcards from Scotland and England.

Folder 3
Letters and telegrams received by Robert Buntine from friends and family, 1941-1942

Folder 4
Ephemera and papers collected by Robert Buntine while in training and on leave in Canada, New York, Edinburgh and England and sent to his parents. Includes leave passes, training reports, menus, tickets, postcards, show programs, bills, invitations and souvenirs, 1941-1942

Folder 5
Collection of photographs of Robert Buntine with fellow airmen, family and friends and taken by Buntine on leave and on duty. Includes a photograph of Robert aged approximately 12 years old.

BOX 2

Folder 1
Newspaper and journal clippings, 1941-1942

Folder 2
Bound Collins Service Diary describing Buntine's enlistment, Camp Borden training and time in England, 7 July 1941-15 November 1941
Includes loose card given to Robert Buntine by Lilyan, Niagara Falls.

Folder 3
Loose leaf diary written on random sheets and roughly collated and numbered (running on from the first diary), pages 225 to 626. Discusses training, leave, a trip to New York for WWI Armistice celebrations, airfield scrambles, experiences in the air and musings on the deaths of his colleagues, November 1941-August 1942

Folder 4
Robert Buntine school reports and reference, 1927-1934
Wonder Atlas / The Literary Press: London, 1941 edition (Annotated)
Salt: army education journal (Vol. 7, No. 4, 25 October 1943)
Wings Over Borden (Vol. 3, No. 10, 15 August 1941-vol. 4, no. 3, 20 October 1941) (Five annotated copies)
New Zealand News (No. 390, 3 February 1942)

Folder 5
Hugh Buntine (brother of Robert Buntine) photographs, letters and telegrams, 1924-1943

Folder 6
Athol and Ina Buntine papers and correspondence related to Robert Buntine's RAAF career and death, 1941-1954.
Includes official letter of condolence, newspaper death notice and the following material related to The Malta Memorial:
The Air Battle of Malta: the official account of the R.A.F. in Malta, June 1940 to November 1942 / Ministry of Information: London, 1944
The Malta Memorial Part 1: the register of names of Airmen who fell in the 1939-1945 War and have no known grave / Imperial War Graves Commission: London, 1954
The Malta Memorial brochure / Anzac Agency of the Imperial War Graves Commission
Australian Newsletter: a weekly digest of Australian news cabled by the Department of Information, Melbourne, and issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Australia, Australia House, London (New Series: No. 2, 13 January 1942, no. 4, 27 January 1942, no. 5, 3 February 1942)
Australia: a monthly bulletin from the Australian News and Information Bureau, New York (No. 2, November 1941)

Copyright restrictions may apply:
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy copyright holder(s)

Davidson Auctions 'Australian Arts, Military & Social History I' Lot 39, May 2023