The series consists of one item, being the framed letters patent appointing Francis Michael Forde as Minister for Defence on 15 August 1946. Forde held this portfolio for only six weeks, before his defeat in the September 1946 general election and subsequent appointment as Australian High Commissioner to Canada.

The letters patent are signed by Joseph Benedict (Ben) Chifley (Prime Minister) and His Royal Highness, Henry, Duke of Gloucester (Governor-General). They were registered on 23 August 1946 (Register of Patents No 94, Page 497). The series was transferred to Canberra from the Sydney Office of National Archives in June 2001, and the series registration revised as part of the Prime Ministers Papers' Project in December 2001.