German railway locomotive plaque, Armistice : Private R B McKenzie, 2 Pioneer Battalion, AIF

Places
Accession Number REL42810
Collection type Heraldry
Object type Heraldry
Physical description Brass, Wood
Maker Unknown
Place made Germany: Prussia
Date made Unknown
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Description

Cast brass railway locomotive plaque showing a Prussian eagle surmounted by a Prussian crown, holding a sceptre and orb in its talons, with an 'R' in the centre of its chest. Beneath the eagle are the letters 'K.P.E.V.', for Königlich Preußische Eisenbahn-Verwaltung (Royal Prussian Railway Administration). Four bolts attach the plaque to a wooden base which was added after it was removed from the locomotive.

History / Summary

This Prussian locomotive plaque is said to have been taken from the train that carried the German delegation which travelled from Berlin to Trier, Germany, for negotiations for another extension of the Armistice, which took place on the 13 December 1918.

Private Robert Bruce McKenzie was born in Preston, Victoria. Before enlisting, he was a member of the NSW Scottish Rifles and had completed his apprenticeship as a shipwright at Morrison and Sinclair, Sydney. He was 22 when he joined the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF) on 11 August 1914 at Victoria Barracks, Sydney.

Assigned to C Company, AN&MEF, McKenzie left Sydney on the 19 August for service in New Guinea. He contracted malaria in Rabaul in November 1914. The AN&MEF was relieved by Tropical Force on 9 January 1915. McKenzie returned to Sydney where he was discharged in March.

At the end of May 1915 McKenzie re-enlisted in the AIF and was assigned as a reinforcement to 17th Battalion. He landed at Gallipoli on 17 September. His malaria recurred a month later and he was invalided back to Australia in May 1916, where he was discharged medically unfit on 9 January 1917.

McKenzie made several attempts to re-enlist and eventually joined the Royal Australian Naval Bridging Train on 8 March 1917. In Egypt McKenzie re-enlisted with 17th Battalion on 2 August, but transferred to 2nd Pioneer Battalion on 14 September to be with his elder brother Private Donald McKenzie.

On the 5 October 1918 the 2nd Pioneer Battalion went into action for the last time at Montbrehain. At the end of the month McKenzie was posted to 2nd Division's Bomb School at Flesselles. The School closed on the 9 November and he returned to his unit. On the morning of 11 November 1918 when the Armistice was signed the Battalion's war diary records that 'the band paraded the streets of Pernois and played patriotic music.'

The terms of the Armistice, which was for 36 days, included withdrawing from invaded territory and the surrender of war materiel. It soon became clear that the Allies would be unable to agree on the conditions for a final peace treaty before the period of the initial Armistice had expired. Three other meetings between the Allies and the Germans were held to extend the Armistice, at Trier in western Germany. Here German delegates met with Marshal Foch on the 13 December 1918, and on 16 January and 16 February 1919.

By the beginning of December 1918, 2nd Pioneer Battalion had moved to Petit Fayt in France. It was in this area that McKenzie acquired his plaque from the train carrying the German Delegates to the first meeting with Marshal Foch. While the locomotive was taking on water in a siding, McKenzie and his brother noticed two Prussian plaques on the drivers cab and decided to bargain with the driver. After some discussion the plaques were unbolted and exchanged for several packets of cigarettes.

From 26 January 1919 McKenzie was granted rehabilitation leave in England; he trained at Kelvin, Bottomley and Baird nautical instrument makers and then with Fairfield Shipbuilding Company, Glasgow. The pattern shop of this company made the timber bases for each of the plaques. When he returned to Australia October 1919 he carried the plaques with him, one of which he gave to to Donald.

In civilian life McKenzie built and operated the Bega Electricity Supply. After being refused enlistment in the Second World War he established a general engineering company at Port Kembla. The company was involved in essential war work which included building landing barges, shipping repairs, post war reconstruction, and the expansion of the steel and coal mining industries in the district. McKenzie was interested in the welfare of veterans and accepted an invitation to become Patron of the Legacy Club of Wollongong. He died in 1963.