Compressed fibre identity disc : Lieutenant S M Bruce, 2 Battalion, Royal Fusiliers

Round reddish-brown compressed fibre identity disc stamped with a single hole through which is threaded a string necklace. Disc is marked on one side, in indelible pencil, 'S. M. BRUCE 2RF C.E.'.

Worn by Stanley Melbourne Bruce, later Prime Minister of Australia. For some years before 1914 Stanley practiced at the Bar in London. When war broke out he joined the Inns of Court Officers' Training Corps, and in April 1915 as a subaltern in 2 Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers, he landed at Cape Helles with the 29th Division. He was wounded on 3 June and two months later took part in the operations at Suvla Bay, where he was seriously wounded in October. After eighteen months medical treatment he was demobilised as unfit for further service and returned to Australia. He had been awarded the Military Cross and the French Croix de Guerre for his work on Gallipoli. In May 1918 Bruce was elected to the Federal Parliament for the seat of Flinders, and after the election of December 1922 was chosen to lead a ministry formed by agreement between the Nationalist and Country parties.