Pair of German spectacles, Proyart: Private W T Turner, 56 Battalion AIF

Place Europe: France, Picardie, Somme, Bray Proyart Area, Proyart
Accession Number RELAWM08256
Collection type Heraldry
Object type Heraldry
Physical description Brass, Elastic, Glass, Steel
Maker Unknown
Place made Germany
Date made c 1916-1918
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Description

Pair of circular brass-rimmed spectacles with short, hinged triangular arms to which are attached a loop of grey elastic, each with a pair of alloy adjustment slider buckles. The elastic fits over the wearer's ear. The exterior face of one of the wings is impressed 'D.R.P. 8'; the other wing is also marked, but is illegible. The proper left wing is affected by corrosion and cannot be opened.

History / Summary

Spectacles recovered by 3484 Sergeant William Terry Turner. Turner was born in Sydney, NSW and was a 28 year old clerk of Chatswood when he enlisted on 11 October 1916 at the Showground Camp, Sydney. Initially assigned to C Company, 20 Battalion, Turner was transferred during training to the 9th reinforcements of the 45th Battalion and made an acting corporal. He had earlier attempted to enlist twice but had been rejected on the grounds of poor eyesight; but with relaxed restrictions, he was accepted on his third application. Turner embarked for overseas service on 24 January 1917 from Sydney aboard the transport Anchises, arriving in England on 27 March. Reverting to the rank of private, Turner trained with 12 Training Battalion, Codford, until October, spending some time acting as both corporal and sergeant. On 28 November he was transferred to 56 Battalion and sailed to France via Folkstone, joining them in the field on 13 December.

The battalion acted as reserve for the 8 August Offensive in 1918. On 12 August orders were received for the battalion, in company with 53, 54 and 55 Battalions to attack the enemy position at Lihons the next day, but this was postponed and the battalion eventually moved to positions at Proyart on the night of 16/17 August, with instructions to aggressively patrol and advance the line forward over the following six days. Attempts to capture German outposts failed, proving dangerous without artillery support, and the order was modified to obtaining enemy unit identification. Most of the battalion's casualties in the period came from German shellfire, fired because the Germans feared a major attack daily. The battalion finally saw action in its capture of Peronne on 2 September. It was during this period holding the line at Proyart that Private Turner recovered this pair of German spectacles from an abandoned German first aid post.

The use of shortened arms and elastic on these spectacles appears to have been designed to avoid the fouling of the spectacle arms by helmets and their chin-straps, implying that these may have been German Army issue.

After the Armistice, Turner was promoted to temporary sergeant on 5 December 1918 and returned to Australia aboard the transport Miltiades which disembarked at Sydney on 8 August 1919. He was discharged from the AIF on 15 September 1919. Postwar, Turner served with Customs and during the Second World War he administered economic warfare measures, including the restrictions on merchant shipping and the control of exports and contraband. In 1949 he was appointed as the comptroller-general of Customs. He died in Canberra in January 1959.