Turkish Prisoner of War beadwork snake with lizard : Private E C Fry, 1 Veterinary Evacuation Station, AIF

Beaded crochet snake. The main part of the snake's back is in mustard beads, the belly is in white beads. The snake's tail is also mustard. The top of the snake has a diamond design in white, blue, mustard and black beads along the length of the body. The eyes are beaded in red and white. The snake's mouth is bordered with light blue beads, and the inside of the mouth is in plain cotton crochet work. The underside of the lower jaw has a triangle design in mustard and blue beads, with a small flower design in red and black beads. 'TURKISH PRISONER 191' is worked on the snake's belly in black beads. The snake has lost some beads, and has come apart and been resewn in three areas. It holds a small lizard in its mouth. The lizard is missing its front legs and its backright leg. Half of its back left leg is still attached, with a piece of wire protruding from the centre. The lizard's tail has also come off, with a bent piece of wire protruding from the end of the body. The lizard's back has a diamond design in red, green, dark blue, white, light blue and black beads. The belly is beaded in white with the numbers '1917' in black beads. The lizard's body is missing some beads.

Sent back to Australia as a souvenir by 232 Corporal Ernest Charles Fry from Coburg, Victoria, enlisted on 15 October 1914. Born at Alexandra in Victoria, he was married and working as a lineman when he enlisted. He embarked with the 2nd Veterinary Section of the Army Veterinary Corps on board HMAT Borda on 22 December 1914. There is no record of his activities through 1915, but it is likely he remained in Egypt. In early February 1916 he was hospitalised with synovitis. Fry was transferred to the 8th Australian Mobile Veterinary Section in Palestine in January 1917. In August 1917 he was sent to England. He was there for two months before being admitted to hospital with lumbago. After recovering and spending some time training Fry finally reached France in February 1918. He was posted to the 5th Australian Mobile Veterinary Section and later in May was transferred again, this time to the 1st Australian Corps Veterinary Evacuation Station. He embarked for Australia on 24 September 1918 on board Kasir-i-Hind. This beadwork snake was made by an Ottoman prisoner of war (POW) in a British POW camp, probably in Egypt and would have been purchased in Egypt by Fry. 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. This snake holds in its mouth a small lizard. The lizard's body and legs were also made using the single crochet method. It has the year of manufacture beaded into the belly in black beads '1917'. To maintain its shape, the lizard were stuffed and has a thick wire running along the length of the body, from head to tail. This stops the head and tail from drooping. The lizard also had wires in its legs to strengthen them. This lizard had lost three of its legs and has only half of the fourth.