Trophy files, 1914-18 War

Accession Number AWM194
Collection type Official Record
Object type Official Record
Maker Department of Defence
Date made 1920-1928
Conflict Period 1910-1919
Period 1920-1929
First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Copying Provisions Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction.
Description

This series relates to the distribution of war trophies (machine guns, trench mortars, other small weapons, etc) brought back to Australia with the sanction of the Imperial authorities after the 1914-18 War.

In July 1919, it was decided that the Australian War Museum Committee would retain only a small selection of trophies and relics for the Museum. The larger proportion was to be divided between the states. The basic principle of allocation was that a state should receive trophies and relics captured by the units it had raised, as well as some of those not associated with any particular unit. The number of trophies per state was proportionate to the state's population. The Commonwealth Government entrusted the distribution of trophies within each state to a State Trophy Committee. Each committee included a senator, a member of the House of Representatives, a State Government representative, an AIF representative, and the Director of the Australian War Museum (AWM). The State Trophy Committees were administered from Melbourne (122 King Street or the Exhibition Building) where the AWM was located at the time.

A portion of the files (c 35cm) found at the end of the series comprise the correspondence between the AWM Committee and the State Committees. The bulk of the series however are case files for the allocation of trophies and relics to individual towns or cities. They are arranged by state or group, with each being allocated indentifing prefixes:

NSW: SYDNEY, N, NS, NSW INDEX
Qld: BRISBANE, Q, QLD INDEX
SA: ADELAIDE, S, SA INDEX
Tas: T, TAS INDEX
Vic: MELBOURNE, V, VIC INDEX, VS
WA : PERTH, W, WA INDEX
Citizen Military Forces: CMF
General Meetings: GM
Miscellaneous: MISC
Small Trophies: ST
State Trophy Committee: STC

Most files have a Department of Home and Territories cover, but the AWM stamping indicates that the records were controlled throught the latter's registry. At what point they were separated from the AWM's own registry filing system, has not been established, but it was probably from some time in 1920 (see AWM134).

Quantity in agency custody
6.4m held by CA 616, Australian War Memorial

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