'Hamsa' good luck charm : Lance Corporal A M Mirtus, 1 Machine Gun Battalion, AIF

Good luck charm suspended from a clasp. There are three crescent moons with stars suspended one below the other. Suspended underneath the moons and stars is a hand with filigree design and a light blue six pointed star, a dark blue crescent moon and a red circle.

Hamsa or Hand of Fatima good luck charm associated with the service of Sergeant Anthony Miruzzir Mirtus. Born in Malta, Mirtus had served in the Mercantile Marine before he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 29 April 1916. He embarked from Melbourne on board HMAT Commonwealth on 19 September 1916 with the 5th reinforcements of 5 Machine Gun Company. Mirtus served in England and France. While stationed at Grantham in England he married an English girl, Jesse Hughes at Saint Catherine Parish Church on 14 February 1917 . Mirtus returned to Australia on 4 June 1919 on board SS Bremen.

The charm may have been purchased in Egypt by Sergeant Mirtus on his way to or from Europe. The charm has three crescent moons with stars, one of the symbols of Islam. The three crescent moons and stars were used on the Egyptian flag at the time, under the Muhammad Ali Dynasty (1805 - 1922). The hand at the bottom of the charm is the Hamsa (meaning five). The Hamsa, (also known as the 'Hand of Fatima' - after the Prophet Mohammad's daughter for Muslims, or the 'Hand of Miriam' for the Jews) is used as a good luck symbol by some in Islamic countries. Each finger on the hand represents an attribute - faith, prayer, pilgrimage, charity and fasting.