Matchbox with shell and rocks : 2 Field Ambulance, AIF

Matchbox containing one shell and five small pebbles. The match box is comprised of a light wood covered in cardboard and paper. Parts of the wood are coloured with purple ink and the sides are covered with blue paper for striking matches. The manufacturer's details are marked on the front label of the box in red and black but are faded and illegible in parts. Those parts that are legible read 'SE ZAWATI LANCER' above the figure of a mounted lancer, with 'Manufactured in Sweden' beneath the horse. There are two pairs of coins pictured on either side of the horseman indicating that the manufacturer had been awarded prizes at trade fairs.

This souvenir was carried by one of three people, brothers Lance Sergeant George Melrose and Private Charles Vivian Fish or their brother-in-law Private Walter Harold Brentnall. All three, from Melbourne, Victoria, served in 2 Field Ambulance, AIF. Brentnall returned to Australia in 1917 after he was wounded. The brothers, however, both died of wounds, George on 24 July 1916 and Charles on 17 April 1918. Their effects were sent home to their family. Sweden supplied matches throughout Europe and the Middle East and it is thought that this matchbox may have been picked up on Gallipoli and filled with pebbles and a shell from Anzac Cove. The name 'Zawati' is common throughout the Islamic world.