Personal equipment hold-all with razors : Private K L Matheson, 9 Light Horse Regiment, AIF

Rectangular khaki cotton canvas personal equipment hold-all roll with a pattern of a pair of blue dotted lines running vertically down the roll. The exterior is marked in indelible purple pencil 'K.L.MATHESON / 2723 / 9th LH'. The interior is stamped with a broad arrow and initials, possibly 'J.L.', and is supplied with a protective flap vertically down each side, and a pocket at the base. It is also fitted with a central cotton canvas strip, 4 cm wide, divided into seven keeper loops, normally expected to hold a variety of small personal objects, including cutlery, but in this case holding only boxed cut-throat razors, of which there are four present. The top box is missing its lid and razor. The next is a labelled boxed Sheffield Steel 'Bell Razor', with an ebonite handle; followed by a unlabelled boxed 'Ford & Medley' Sheffield Steel razor with a translucent casein or celluloid handle; and finally an unlabelled boxed 'Bengall' razor made by T R Cadman & Sons, of Sheffied, with a ebonite handle and decorated blade shank. The roll is stained and spotted from use.

Related to the service of 2723 Private Keith Leonard Matheson, born Millicent, South Australia. He was a Traveller of Stirling West, SA when he enlisted on 9 August 1915 aged 23. Initially assigned to 6th Reinforcements, 27 Battalion, Matheson embarked for overseas service aboard HMAT Benalla, leaving Adelaide on 27 October 1915. Upon arriving in the Middle East, he joined his Battalion (part of 7 Brigade) at Heliopolis in late January 1916. A month later they moved to Serapheum where, on 23 July Private Matheson transferred to the 3 Light Horse Brigade Machine Gun Squadron. He joined the squadron in the field, shortly after the Battle of Romani. Before long Matheson had transferred again, to 9 Light Horse Regiment (9LHR, a mainly a South Australian-raised regiment) and stayed with them until the end of hostilities. Matheson joined the Regiment during its advance that followed the Turkish retreat back across the desert from Romani, where the their attack on the Suez Canal had been stopped. 9LHR was involved in the fighting to secure the Turkish outposts of Maghdaba (23 December) and Rafa (9 January 1917), both of which were captured at bayonet point. The next Turkish stronghold to be encountered was Gaza. The 3rd Light Horse Brigade, now part of the Imperial Mounted Division (later re-named the Australian Mounted Division), was involved in the two abortive battles to capture Gaza directly (27 March and 19 April 1917) and then in the operation that ultimately led to its fall, the wide outflanking move via Beersheba that began on 31 October. With the fall of Gaza on 7 November 1917, the Turkish position in southern Palestine collapsed. The 9th participated in the pursuit that followed and led to the capture of Jerusalem in December. The focus of British operations then moved to the Jordan Valley. In early May 1918 the 9th was involved in the abortive Es Salt raid and soon after, on 27 May, Matheson was temporarily transferred to 18 Company, 4 Battalion, Imperial Camel Corps, a mixture of Australian and New Zealand troops. The Corps had suffered heavily in the advance north through Palestine and in the November 1917 Gaza battles. Within a month of Matheson joining the Corps, it was disbanded and by late July he had returned to 9LHR at the Moascar Training Camp. Three weeks later he contracted severe malignant malaria. He was evacuated to 14 Australian General Hospital at Port Said on 5 September. Although he was discharged on 8 October, he had recurring bouts of fever and his leave was extended for 2 weeks By this time, the Armistice had been signed. Matheson then contracted influenza and did not rejoin his unit until 17 December. While to return to Australia for home, 9LHR were recalled to operational duty to quell the Egyptian revolt that erupted in March 1919; order was restored in little over a month, and it is likely Matheson was involved. While the regiment sailed for home on 10 July 1919, Matheson took leave in England and returned aboard HT Ajania, sailing on 19 August 1919 and arriving back in Australia on 9 October. He was discharged on 12 December.