FOUGHT WITH AMERICANS
TWO AUSTRALIAN SOLDIERS COURT-MARTIALED ALLEGED DESERTION FROM A.I.F. Melbourne, April 27. “You know they have done wrong, but you cannot help admiring them,” said the defending officer at the courtmartial of two young Victorian soldiers who had left their unit in New Guinea to fight with the Americans in the Philippines. The men. Privates Leslie Victor James and Frank Dudley Travers, were charged with desertion. James had enlisted when he was 19 and Travers when he was 27. Both men had served in Greece and Crete. Letters from the American Army produced at the court-martial stated that James had been recommended for the Silver Star and Travers for the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for their part in the fighting on Luzon. However, ’because of their unusual status they were unable to receive the decorations. The officer who commanded the regiment in which the two men served in the North African. Greece and Crete campaigns, praised them as valiant soldiers. His only complaint was that they pestered him with requests for more action.
The decision of the court-martial will be promulgated later.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NEM19450428.2.55.3
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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 28 April 1945, Page 5
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185FOUGHT WITH AMERICANS Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 28 April 1945, Page 5
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