Boxing trophy: British Commonwealth Occupation Force

A wooden trophy surmounted by a gold anodised figure of a boxer, with a gold anodised eagle on the base. Attached to the front of the main column of wood is an engraved brass plate which is secured with four 4 millimetre diameter screws. Engraved onto this brass plate are the following details: 'Invitational Boxing Tournament Kobe ... Japan 28 Aug 1947. C Sone (L Hvy C'Ship) AMF KW Hillen (BM WT c'ship) AMF C Kelly (Lt Wt Runner-up) RAF LW Bull (Jr welt runner up) AMF J T Keogh (Jr Welt) AMF W Waller (Feath Wt) AMF PTI S Johnson (Mngr) RN". Under the base of the trophy are two 9mm diameter holes with dowels in them which secure the column to the base. Also under the base is an 18mm diameter hole with a nut and bolt through it which secures the eagle to the base.

This trophy is from an invitational boxing event held on 28 August 1947 at Kure, in Southern Japan. The Southern Japanese city and port of Kure was a major Imperial Japanese Naval and Air base during the Second World War. During the British Commonwealth Occupation of Japan post-war, Kure was a large Australian and British base. This trophy has abbreviations of several weight classes of boxing that were held on 28 August 1947. These are: "L HVY" - Light Heavyweight, "BM WT" - Bantam weight, "LT WT" - Light Weight and "JR WELT" - Junior Welterweight. Also etched onto the trophy are several services from both Australia and the United Kingdom such as "AMF" - Australian Military Forces, "PTI" - Physical Training Instructor, "RAF" - Royal Air Force and "RN" - Royal Navy. There is no mention of what rank each particular participant was, perhaps indicating that sporting events such as this boxing tournament were regarded as a social 'leveller'. This trophy is an example of the combined Australian and British forces that were in this area at the time and their shared interest and involvement in sporting activities.