Australian Comforts Fund flag : Hellfire Corner, Ypres

White and red linen flag. There is white linen binding along the hoist while the body of the flag is red. Printed in black paint on the flag is 'AUSTRALIAN / COMFORTS / FUNDS'. Several sections of the flag display damage.

Flag of the Australian Comforts Fund (ACF). The ACF was first formed on 24 August 1916 from a number of State based organisations that had been individually formed at the beginning of the First World War to send comforts to the troops. Its motto was "Keep the Fit Man Fit", in order to not duplicate the work of the Red Cross. The ACF raised money through various activities to buy and make items and food that could be sent to the troops. They also ran small canteens near the front lines that served food supplies and provided other items such as primus stoves, clothes, sporting equipment, games, newspapers and magazines. The ACF also ran a residential and recreational club for troops on leave in London called the AIF and War Chest Club.

With the close of the war, the ACF officially ceased to exist on 16 April 1920, only to be revived in 1939 with the outbreak of the Second World War. In addition to the Adoption Appeal, where civilians were asked to buy a stamp a day to cover the daily cost of comforts for one soldier, the ACF provided embarkation kits to troops containing items such as soap, clothes, tobacco, razors and barley sugar. The despatch of christmas hampers to troops was also popular, and by the close of operations more than 1.5 million hampers had been despatched. The ACF officially closed on June 27, 1946.

Hellfire Corner was located on the Menin Road, in the Ypres Sector. This well named locality was continually under observation and notorious for its danger. At night the road was crammed with traffic, limbers, guns, pack animals, motor lorries and troops. Several motor lorries received direct hits at different times and were totally destroyed. The dead bodies of horses, mules and men were often to be seen lying where the last shell had got them. The neighbourhood was piled with the wreckage of all kinds of transport. A 'sticky' spot that was always taken at the trot.

This flag is likely to have flown at the ACF Coffee Stall near Hellfire Corner.