Improvised ladle : Anzac Cove, Gallipoli

Ladle or pan manufactured in the field from a damaged Mk VI water bottle of the type issued to British and empire troops. The blue enamelled bottle has been struck by a bullet which has punctured the outer bottom seam, rendering it useless for water storage. The outer face of the bottle has been roughly cut out and a 16 cm length of dressed timber inserted into the neck to produce a handle for the ladle.

This ladle was found at Anzac Cove in January 1919 by Lieutenant William Hopkin James when he was working on Gallipoli, leading a small party from the Australian War Records Section, taking photographs of the Anzac area and collecing items for the national collection.

This ladle was manufactured by Australian or New Zealand troops on Gallipoli in 1915. It was made form a damaged water bottle, and illustrates the difficulties the troops had in acquiring items on the peninsula, particularly during the early stages of the campaign. There were no canteens at Anzac from which men could obtain ordinary utensils with which to augment the meagre supply on issue by the various battalions. Enterprising soldiers used skill and ingenuity to fill the demand by improvising useful articles out of battlefield debris.