German medical officer's walking stick, Warfusse Abancourt : Captain V P H Stantke, 14 Infantry Brigade Staff, AIF

Thick wooden walking stick, tapering from a thick top (55 mm diameter) to a narrow base (25 mm diameter). The handle curves at an angle to form the upright. The wood has been burnished from use and there are a series of short splits running vertically which do not affect the integrity of the object.

German walking stick recovered by Captain Victor Paul Hildebrand Stantke during the First World War. Stantke was born on 15 August 1886 in Victoria and was a resident of Neutral Bay, NSW when he enlisted in the AIF on 20 March 1917. A few weeks before he enlisted he married Rebecca Alice Haines, on 14 March.

Stantke had previously served in the permanent forces as a probationary lieutenant with both the NSW Administrative and Instructional Staff (September to November 1911); Victorian A & I Staff (December 1911 to July 1913); Adjutant, 86 Infantry and Brigade Major, 22 Brigade Area, 5 Military District (August 1913 to August 1915). Appointed lieutenant, he was assigned to the Machine Gun companies reinforcements and embarked for overseas service from Melbourne aboard the transport Ascanius on 11 May.

Upon arrival in England, he was attached to Headquarters, No 5 Group Headquarters, Parkhouse, before being detached for duty with 29 Battalion, joining his unit in France on 26 October. Stantke was made adjutant of 29 Battalion on Christmas Day 1917 and was promoted to captain on 1 January 1918.

On 19 May 1918 Captain Stantke was detached for duty with 14 Infantry Brigade Headquarters (then based at Corbie) as a staff trainee and he relinquished his appointment as adjutant of 29 Battalion. He remained in this role until he was attached to Australian Corps Headquarters on 6 October, and six days later, was seconded back to 29 Battalion as a staff trainee. This transfer lasted until 19 November, when Stantke returned to Australian Corps Headquarters.

It was on 20 August 1918 that Stantke discovered this walking stick in a dugout in the valley north of Warfusse Abancourt. At this point 14 Infantry Brigade were holding the line in preparation for the attack on 22 August on Foucaucourt.

In early February 1919, Captain Stantke was taken on strength of 1 Division Headquarters in France where he was temporarily appointed Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General, a position he held until he returned to England at the end of May, in preparation for his return to Australia aboard the transport Orsova and his later discharge from the AIF on 24 October 1919.

Stantke enjoyed a successful military career after the war, being promoted to major in October 1923 and lieutenant colonel on 1 May 1935; a month later he was awarded the Order of the British Empire for 'outstanding administrative and organising ability'. He was promoted to colonel on 2 November 1939 and temporary major-general at the start of August 1940, the latter coinciding with his appointment as Adjutant-General of the AMF, taking responsibility for provisioning, organisation and administration of all AMF personnel. Essentially this position involved the massive task of increasing both the AIF and CMF forces from a pre-war minimum to the large-scale organisation they both became. Stantke retired with the rank of honorary major-general on 16 September 1946. He died in 1967.