German wirecutters used in an escape attempt from Holzminden Prisoner of War Camp : Private J R Cash, 19 Battalion, AIF

Black painted steel wirecutters. The handles are partly encased in deteriorating black rubber. Part of the manufacturer's name '...TER' is visible beside the rubber.

Acquired by 2875 Private John Richard Cash, of 19 Battalion, AIF, for an escape attempt from Holzminden Prisoner of War Camp in July 1918. He exchanged food from his Red Cross parcels with German civilians in return for the wirecutters, a map and photographic equipment with which to produce copies of the map for each potential escapee. Cash, a Sydney photographer, enlisted on 18 February 1916 in the reinforcements to 56 Battalion but was re-assigned to 19 Battalion on his arrival in France. He was listed as missing on 3 May 1917, during the Battle of Bullecourt. Several witnesses claimed that they had seen him die, but in fact he had been badly wounded in the shoulder and partially buried in a shell hole. Rescued and captured by German soldiers, Cash spent the next sixteen weeks in German hospitals near Hanover and Celle before being discharged to Soltan Barrack 30 at Lager 1. In November 1917 he was moved to Holzminden Prisoner of War Camp. In June 1918 he recorded in a postcard to his family that the Germans had issued him with a new set of false teeth. Although some prisoners made a successful escape from Holzminden in July 1918, Cash was not among them. He was repatriated to Hull, in England, on 17 December 1918 and returned to Australia on 25 March 1919.