Service breeches : Private H E Curtis, 10 Battalion, AIF

Pair of khaki wool Bedford cord dismounted pattern breeches complete with original lace fastening below each knee. The five button concealed fly has brown plastic buttons and is lined with brown cotton. A single brown plastic button fastens the waist, and a further six buttons are sewn to the outside of the waist for the attachment of braces. There is a slanted welt pocket over each front hip. The back waist is cut with a high rise divided into two points which give additional ease of wear. Both the waist and lower legs are bound with a narrow strip of khaki cotton cut on the bias. The waist is lined with striped white cotton and plain coarse weave brown polished cotton. The pocket bags are made from white cotton. The opening below each knee closes with khaki cotton laces threaded through six pairs of hand finished lace holes.

Henry Earl Curtis, a 23 year old gardener from Piccadilly in South Australia, enlisted in the 12th Reinforcements to 10 Battalion, AIF, with the service number 3724, on 11 August 1915. He sailed from Australia aboard RMS Malwa on 2 December 1915 and after further training in Egypt moved to France with his battalion. Curtis was wounded at Mouquet Farm, on the Somme, on 22 August 1916, receiving a gunshot wound to his left shoulder and a severe gunshot wound to the buttock. He was evacuated to England, where his recovery was delayed when he contracted influenza. After retraining in England Curtis eventually rejoined his battalion in France on 29 June 1917 but was withdrawn after only two months service, on 26 August 1917, suffering from debility. He was judged unfit for further service and returned to Australia on 18 October 1917, where he was discharged on 27 December of that year. Curtis wore these breeches, as part of his uniform, to the Adelaide Parade Grounds in the early 1920s, when he and other veterans of the war were presented with their service medals.