Door from an Australian ammunition wagon : Gallipoli

Place Middle East: Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Dardanelles, Gallipoli
Accession Number RELAWM00334
Collection type Heraldry
Object type Heraldry
Physical description Paint, Steel
Maker Unknown
Date made Unknown
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Description

Door from an Australian ammunition wagon, made from two pieces of flat steel held joined by two hinges. The samller section of steel forms the door, although the hinges are rusted in place and cannot be opened or closed. There are the remains of further two hinges on the other end of the larger piece. The smaller door carries has the remains of a Rising Sun badge in white or cream paint on the front. One short end of the door has a handle attached by three bolts and screws. A round knob set into rubber or a similar substance is located on the door between the arms of the handle.

History / Summary

This door came from an Australian ammunition wagon left at Gallipoli after the evacuation from the ANZAC Area in December 1915. It remained there until 1919 when it was collected by members of the Australian War Records Section or the Australian Historical Mission (AHM).

The small party of AWRS staff, led by Lieutenant William Hopkin James, worked on Gallipoli between December 1918 and March 1919, taking photographs and collecting items for the national collection. The AHM, led by Official Historian C E W Bean, visited Gallipoli from February to March 1919 to collect items for the nation, to record the area through artworks and photographs, and to explore the battlefields to answer some of the 'riddles of Anzac' for the Australian official history of the war.