Encyclopedia
War trophies: First World War
Prior to the establishment of the Australian War Records Section (AWRS)
in May 1917, the collection
of war trophies and relics by Australian units was carried out in accordance
with British War Office (BWO) regulations. In late 1916 BWO established a committee
to deal with the disposal of trophies and
relics: the
best trophies would be selected for a British National War Museum (later to become the
Imperial War Museum) and the remaining trophies distributed to the
dominion countries. However, the Australian government, along with other
dominion countries, resisted the idea, insisting trophies claimed
by their troops should be made available to them.
AWRS was initially responsible for the collection,
preservation, and classification of all official documents relating to
the AIF. This was later expanded to include photographs, trench and
regimental magazines, sketches, personal memoirs, relics, and war
trophies. By the end of 1917 AWRS controlled the administration of all war trophies
captured by Australian units.
In France AWRS set up collecting depots at Bailleul (Australian Corps
Headquarters), Boulogne, Peronne,
Corbie, and Longeau. From here trophies were dispatched to Britain and
then to Australia. In October 1917 Henry Gullett sailed for Egypt, where
he established an office of the AWRS, also responsible for collecting trophies. Items were to be clearly
labelled, contain the name of the unit that had captured the item,
the town or area it was from, the time and place the item was
found, and the unit’s wish for its ultimate disposal. The information was transferred to a history sheet or card for each
item.
The trophies brought back to Australia fell into two categories.
The first group consisted of large trophies, such as artillery pieces,
machine-guns, trench mortars, and vehicles which required little protection
from the weather and could be easily exhibited. The group was considered
to be the best for distribution to towns. The second group consisted
of small trophies, such as rifles, daggers, raiding clubs, bombs, and
ammunition.
The Australian War Museum Committee, at a meeting in July 1919,
decided a selection of small trophies and
relics would go to the Australian War Museum (later the Australian War Memorial)
and the remainder would be divided among
the states according to guidelines to ensure fair distribution.
State trophy committees were established to administer the distribution
of trophies and relics. Each committee consisted of one Senator, one
Member of the House of Representatives, an AIF officer, a state government museum representative, and the Director of the Australian War Museum.
The committees were administered from Melbourne, at the Exhibition Building (122 King Street) where the Memorial was located at the time.
The eventual system of distribution chosen by all the states was according
to the size of a town and its population: towns (other
than the capital city) with a population above 10,000 were allocated
two artillery pieces and two machine-guns; towns with a population between
3,000 and 10,000 were allocated an artillery piece; towns with a
population between 300 and 3,000 were allocated a machine-gun.
Consideration was also given to items which had been
captured by units raised in a particular area. Each town was required
to nominate three trustees (one of them being an ex-member of the AIF)
to act on behalf of the town. They arranged for the
trophy to be permanently housed in a public park, garden, or building
within the town. They also organised a simple handover ceremony and bore
movement and installation expenses after the item was delivered to the nearest railway station.
Allocation of surplus trophies occurred in 1921 and 1922, and many towns
acquired additional items for display. Once the trophy committees
were disbanded the disposal of items became the responsibility of towns
and the trustees.
Trophies captured by the Australian troops during the battle of Hamel,
at the Australian War Records Section Collecting Depot at Ailly-sur-Somme
E02743
Source:
Series notes for series AWM262 Trophy history sheets, 1914-18 War, Australian War Memorial. Can be viewed via the RecordSearch database.
