Presentation pipe bowl in shape of diving helmet: James Alexander Hill

Wooden briar pipe bowl carved into the shape of a diving helmet with three 'windows', and a white metal fitting at the end of the shank. The bottom of the bowl is flat, providing a stand. The shank is impressed with the phrase 'BRUYERE ** GARANTIE' [real briar] in an oval frame on the proper left, and the diving company 'SIEBE GORMAN / & CO LTD / LONDON' on the proper right. No stem has been provided with the bowl and it has never been smoked.

Siebe Gorman and Co Ltd issued a number of examples of this style of pipe from 1904 onwards. Because the carving on the windows of the helmet on this example is minimal compared with examples where the carving is much more intricate and painstaking, it is thought there were at least two grades of pipe made - a prestige range which included silver fittings and an a more elaborate carving on a superior pipe; and examples like this one, where the fittings are nickle plated, the carving detail is minimal and the pipe is of lesser quality.

2212 Able Seaman J A Hill was born in Gippsland Victoria in 1893. He joined the Navy in September 1912 and was in the commissioning crew of HMAS Sydney (I). After the start of the First World War in August 1914 Hill was a member of the landing party from Sydney during the attack of German New Guinea in September and October.

Hill was a gunlayer on HMAS Sydney during the Emden engagement on the 9 November 1914. He went ashore the next day on to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and was one of the party which boarded the Emden after the battle. Hill was one of the first to qualify as a diver in the RAN in 1917. He was discharged due to ill health in 1918.

After leaving the Navy Hill began a diving career that saw service as a diver for the Commonwealth in the Second World War. He recovered items from Sydney Harbour after the Japanese midget submarine attack of 31 May 1942 and worked in the Pacific theatre. He then worked for the Commonwealth in Korea. He died in 1972. His ashes were scattered at sea from HMAS Sydney (III) in November 1972.

It is thought, though not proved, that Hill was presented with this specially carved pipe bowl when he was working on the Japanese midget submarines in Sydney Harbour in 1942..