Disinfectant tin : Gallipoli

Discoloured white enamelled tin with surface with rust marks, and the following text printed on the front and back in black text and in white text bordered with black: 'NCI / DISINFECTING / POWDER / PREPARED BY / THE SOUTH METROPOLITAN GAS CO. / 709 OLD KENT ROAD, LONDON, SE'. The tin is misshapen with some tears and holes.

Disinfectant was issued to troops at Gallipoli to combat lice and flies. However due to the difficulties in getting access to water and living in the trenches around the remains of dead soldiers, insects remained constant irritants to the troops throughout the campaign.

This tin was collected by members of the Australian War Records Section (AWRS) or the Australian Historical Mission (AHM). A 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.