Turkish Prisoner of War beadwork snake : Captain W A Forsythe, 13 Battalion, AIF

Beaded crochet snake. The top part of the snake's body is in dark blue beads, the belly is in white beads. The snake's tail is dark blue. The top of the snake has a diamond pattern in yellow, white and light blue beads the length of the body. The eyes are beaded in white and red. The mouth is bordered with light blue beads, and the inside of the mouth is in plain cotton crochet work. Under the snake's head is the letter 'A' beaded in dark blue beads. 'TURKISH - PRISONER - 1191' is worked on the snake's belly in dark blue beads. The snake is broken in two areas and has been stuffed with rags.

Beadwork snake made by an Ottoman prisoner of war (POW) in a British POW camp, associated with the service of Captain William Alfred Forsythe. Forsythe was born on 15 June 1874. He served in South Africa with 3 Battalion, Australian Commonwealth Horse for ten months and served six years with militia units after the Boer War. He was appointed a lieutenant in the Australian Imperial Force on 14 November 1914 and promoted to Captain on 22 December, the day he embarked from Melbourne. He served with 13 Battalion on Gallipoli, landing on 25 April. He fought at Quinn's Post during the early part of the campaign, from 26 April to 4 May.

Forsythe was wounded at Quinn's Post in the right foot on 29 May 1915, during a major Turkish attack. He was transferred to hospital in Malta for several weeks. During this time he is thought to have bought the snake from a Turkish prisoner there. He was sent from Malta to England on board the Hospital Ship Transylvania to recuperate further, before being returned to Australia on 24 June 1916. On 22 September 1916 his appointment was terminated. He served from 1917 to 1919 as the Commanding Officer at Karrakatta training camp in Western Australia. Captain Forsythe died 7 November 1938.

Except for fatigue duties, prisoners were generally not required to work. Making craft items, along with playing sport, games or music helped them pass the time. The prisoners also made these items as a way of making some money to buy extra rations and supplies, such as coffee or tobacco; to barter with other prisoners; or as gifts for friends or family. Although many of the snakes produced in the camps have 'TURKISH PRISONER' beaded into their bellies the maker may not have been ethnically Turkish as the Ottoman Empire stretched from the Balkans to the Sinai, and the soldiers in its armies came from throughout the empire.

The bulk of the Memorial's beadwork collection comes from Egypt but there were also prison camps in England, Salonika, Cyprus, Mesopotamia, India and France where prisoners made similar souvenirs. The snakes usually have a variation of a zig zag design or a diamond design on their backs. The bellies are generally white, often with text beaded in black or dark blue. Occasionally other colours are used. Some have decorative patterns, such as diamonds or triangles between the words on their bellies.

The snakes were made using single stitch beaded crochet. To make them beads had to be strung in order of the design before crocheting commenced. Some of the smaller beaded crochet items could be made with all the beads strung at once. The larger snakes had to be strung and made in sections, fastening the new thread to the worked one as the work progressed. The snakes were stuffed with whatever materials were available, such as cotton thread, rags, or horsehair to keep their shape.

The mouths are plain thread crocheted into two triangles that are attached to the snake. Snakes were amongst the most popular souvenirs made and sold. They were considered to bring good luck in parts of Southeast Europe, and there were many rituals and superstitions surrounding them, which could be why they were a popular subject. Their shape may have been another reason they were popular with POWs as they are essentially a long tube, which is relatively easy to make in crochet beadwork.