| Place | Asia: Malaya |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | REL/01961.003 |
| Collection type | Heraldry |
| Object type | Heraldry |
| Physical description | Copper-plated ferrous metal, Ebonite |
| Maker |
Unknown |
| Date made | c 1930s |
| Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
| Source credit to | This item has been digitised with funding provided by Commonwealth Government. |
Smoking pipe stem: Staff Sergeant Arthur Cyril Robinson, 8 Division Signals
Description
Short (60mm long) commercially made ebonite pipe smoking stem and mouthpiece. The shank end is provided with a length of coated copper piping. The mouthpiece is chewed and damaged.
History / Summary
Used by Arthur Cyril Robinson, a resident of Rosedale, Victoria who enlisted on 2 July 1940 aged 37. He was assigned to 8th Division Signals and given the service number VX28150. He became a prisoner of war of the Japanese after the fall of Singapore in February 1942.
No details of his service are presently available, but when he donated this collection in 1966 (he died in 1968) he wrote regarding his health 'have no wind and have been made TPI from some of my POW experiences. Worst trouble is emphysema, spondylitis and recurring dysentry. It is a bugger as I feel OK when doing nothing.'
The material used in these pipes varied from camp to camp but prisoners were often reduced to smoking tobacco stalks or dried grass. This commercial stem could be used with either REL/01961.001 or REL/01961.002.