Service dress tunic : Lieutenant Colonel A G Salisbury, 50 Battalion, AIF

Khaki wool twill private purchase officers' service dress tunic with oxidised brass rank badges for a lieutenant colonel. Circular purple over light blue colour patches for 50 Battalion, AIF, are carried on each shoulder, and oxidised brass 'AUSTRALIA' shoulder titles and Rising Sun collar badges are fitted. All buttons are of the plaited leather type. The tunic has a pair of pleated breast pockets with triple pointed flaps, and a pair of large expanding pockets over each hip with rectangular flaps. There is a back vent extending from the centre back waist band to the bottom of the skirt. The cuffs are pointed and there are five embroidered chevrons above the right cuff, one red from 1914 enlistment and four blue for the years 1915-1918. Silk ribbon bars for the Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, (CMG) Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and Bar (indicated by a rosette on the ribbon), 1914-15 Star, British War Medal 1914-1920, Victory Medal with Mention in Despatches oakleaf and French Legion d'Honneur are carried above the left breast pocket. There are brass belt hooks set into each side seam at the waist to support a Sam Brown belt. The body of the tunic is lined with khaki mercerised cotton and the sleeves with blue striped white cotton.

Alfred George 'Dick' Salisbury was born at Bowen Park, Queensland, in February 1885. As a young man, he was employed as a bank officer, but devoted much of his time to Militia service, and at the age of 29 had attained the rank of captain in the 7th (Moreton) Infantry Regiment. Enlisting in the AIF immediately after the First World War commenced, he retained his rank, and was appointed to command 'A' Company of 9 Infantry Battalion. 9 Battalion was the first unit to land at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, and Salisbury, now holding the rank of major, is believed to have been one of the first men ashore. In the chaos of the landing, despite being wounded himself, he took charge of the battalion when its commanding officer was wounded, and led it through the desperate fighting of the first few days. He retained command of the unit until the end of May, (when the CO returned) and served at Anzac until November, when he was finally evacuated ill. Salisbury returned to 9 Battalion before it moved to France, and again distinguished himself in the unit's first major action on the Western Front, at Pozières in July 1916. For this he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. The following month he was promoted lieutenant colonel and given command of 50 Battalion, the unit he was to lead for the remainder of the war. 50 Battalion (part of the 4th Australian Division) played a prominent part in many of the AIF's pivotal battles, and Salisbury was awarded the French Legion d'honneur in 1917 and a Bar to the DSO in 1918 for his leadership of the night counter attack which secured possession of Villers Bretonneux. In 1919, he was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George. A quiet and unassuming man, 'Sally' Salisbury, as he was known to his men, became a sheep farmer in Queensland after the war, but retained his interest in the military. In late 1939, he was appointed to oversee the Northern Command training depots, but the stress of this role and the consequent decline in his health led to his retirement in 1941. He died in Brisbane early the following year from hypertensive renal disease.

• Service dress breeches : Lieutenant Colonel A G Salisbury, 50 Battalion, AIF