Born: 20 August 1903, Sydney ,NSW.
Pte Melville married Martha Kathleen Carlow on 5th May 1928 at St Mary’s Church, Waverley, NSW, and they had one son Ross Wallace Melville born 19 February 1929 and who died in 1988(?) His wife never remarried and was a war widow from 1942 until she passed away in April 2009 aged nearly 102. This letter was sent from Private Wallace Ross Melville to his wife Kath whilst he was a prisoner of war in Rabaul.
Dearest Kath
I am quite well and fit, and am being treated excellently.
I have had a bad dose of malaria but quite OK again, although I have lost a lot of weight.
You must have worried terribly, I know, but please don’t worry any more as I really am alright now.
Tell Ross I am sorry to have missed his birthday but will make it up to him when I return. Please let Mother and the girls know I am well.
Your loving
Wal