This series consists of two typescript letters from Lieutenant General H Gordon Bennett to the Hon Francis Michael Forde, then Minister for the Army. The letters, both marked ‘Personal and Confidential’, are dated 19 December 1941 and 27 January 1942. They include strong criticism of the role of the British High Command during the Japanese advance through the Malay Peninsula prior to the fall of Singapore, and Bennett’s concerns about his own position and that of the Australian forces under his command.

The letters were transferred to archival custody by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet on 16 July 1974 (ref. A1974/460), and the series description revised as part of the Prime Ministers Papers’ Project in February 2002.