'Strategy' board game, austerity version : Master Frank W Cocks, Kalgoorlie

Boxed board game, rectangular format, entitled 'Strategy - A Game of Skill', which is printed in red on the lid. The lid is decorated with a black and white photographic image of three officers representing the army, navy and air force, playing the game. Patent details (Pat App 4493/39) also appear on the lid. The interior of the box is fitted with three storage compartments along one short end, each containing twelve circular die stamped printed playing tokens, in either dark or light blue, orange and green. Each displays a white silhouette of either a soldier, battleship or aircraft, allowing each player eight soldier, six ship and four aircraft tokens each. The compartments are protected by a length of corrugated cardboard placed over each.

The interior also stores the heavy-duty card playing board which folds out to a 510 mm x 330 mm playing surface. The image on the lid is reproduced on the front of the board, while the interior is printed with an imaginary landscape in blue, yellow, red and green, depicting two opposing countries and a central island surrounded by water. The landscape is overlaid with a grid of playing circles. A separate single rules sheet, printed double sided, is provided, as well as an emergency apology sheet, which states: 'WE ARE SORRY! Owing to the war demands we can no longer obtain the supplies of the necessary material for the discs we formerly used for 'Strategy'. These materials are required for more urgent goods connected with the war effort. We are now forced to produce these discs in cardboard. If the set in this box wears out quickly we will gladly supply another set free of charge. Write to G. N. Raymond, Easey St Collingwood.' Makers of 'Strategy', 'Race Round Australia' and many other popular UPL Party Games.'

'Strategy' board game, made by G N Raymond at Collingwood, Victoria, from 1939. This game originally employed different tokens made from celluloid or casein but war time contingencies and restrictions on materials led to the employment of coloured card discs instead, as noted in the accompanying apology sheet.

This game was given to Frank Cocks, born 1932 and an only child, by his parents at their home at Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, in either 1941 or 1942 as a birthday present. His mother insisted he take good care of it, hence its excellent condition. It was purchased at Kalgoorlie's then local toy shop, 'Hicks', which Frank recalls also stocked many basic austerity-influenced locally made toys during the war, such as wooden pop guns and crudely cast lead planes and ships, in lieu of imported items.

G N Raymond, established in 1914, was a major shoe component manufacturer. The Adelaide Advertiser of 30 August 1949 noted in a report on G N Raymond's conversion to a public company that 'The company claims to do 60% or more of the trade in wooden lasts, steel shanks, and moulded fibre and leather shanks and insoles and 45% of the business in wooden heels and moulded stiffeners. In addition it is a large manufacturer of cardboard boxes and cartons and casein plastics.'