Pair of shorts : Driver M H Store, 2/3 Reserve Motor Company 8th Division AIF

Pair of hand made faded blue-grey cotton shorts. The exterior surfaces of the fabric is significantly faded with several parts of the internal facing giving an indication of the original dark blue-grey colour. The shorts have been hand sewn and partly hemmed with white cotton. Some stitching along the front of the shorts has come undone or was unpicked creating an open vertical fly.

These shorts relate to the experiences of Driver Mark Hill Store as a Prisoner of War of the Japanese on the infamous Burma-Thai railway during the Second World War. Store was born in the UK in 1900. He emigrated to Australia after the First World War and he joined the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in Townsville in March 1941. He was a Driver with the 2/3rd Reserve Motor Company of the 8th Division. This unit was involved in the important logistical support of the 8th Division, carrying personnel, ammunition and supplies using a variety of wheeled vehicles. Store was captured in Java by the Japanese and made a Prisoner of War. Amongst his travels as a prisoner he was forced to work on the Burma-Thai railway. Store survived his experiences as a prisoner and returned to Australia, where he discharged from the AIF in March 1946.