| Accession Number | P05901.080 |
|---|---|
| Collection type | Photograph |
| Object type | Black & white - Print silver gelatin |
| Maker |
Den Drijver, H C |
| Place made | Germany: Schneidemuhl |
| Date made | c 1918 |
| Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
Studio portrait of Australian Prisoner of War (POW) 99 Corporal (Cpl) Walter Ernest Devenish, 5th ...
Description
Studio portrait of Australian Prisoner of War (POW) 99 Corporal (Cpl) Walter Ernest Devenish, 5th Machine Gun Battalion, from Perth, WA. Walter Devenish enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) on 26 April 1913 but deserted on 28 June 1915. He subsequently enlisted in the AIF as Walter Ernest Holman on 12 July 1915 at the age of 21 and embarked for overseas with the 31st Battalion on 9 November 1915 aboard HMAT Wandilla. He was wounded in the right leg and captured at Fleurbaix, France, on 20 July 1916. Cpl Devenish was repatriated to Holland on 5 July 1918, arrived in England on 18 November 1918 and arrived back in Australia on 24 December 1919. One of a series of over 80 photographs of Allied POWs in the camp at Schneidemuhl, given to 3235 Cpl James Skelly, 55th Battalion, from Rockdale, NSW, by fellow POWs as a souvenir of their time together. Cpl Skelly was a self-described 'special correspondent' for the Australian Red Cross while at Schneidemuhl and originally donated these photographs to the Ramsgate RSL. The original is stored in the AWM archive store.