Mounted German regimental shoulder straps : Lieutenant General Sir John Monash, Australian Corps Headquarters, 1918

Wooden board with a piece of white paper attached to the front. Attached to the board and paper with tacks are 32 German soldier’s shoulder straps and officer's shoulder boards removed or cut from uniforms. They are arranged in two rows of 16 straps/boards separated by a ruled horizontal line. The paper is also ruled vertically to frame each shoulder strap/board. Above each one is written information relating to the unit and date of acquisition, all in the same handwriting.

Left to right row 1:

Shoulder strap for the 264th Bearer Company [Field Ambulance]. Cherry red strap with field grey backing and chain stitched yellow number ‘264’. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘264 Bearer Co. / 108th DIVISION / 8/9 Aug. 1918’.

Shoulder strap for the 8th Pioneer Battalion. Black strap with red piping and chain stitched red number ‘8’. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘8th Pioneer / Battalion / 8/Aug.1918’.

Shoulder strap for the Saxon 12th Pioneer Battalion. Black strap with red piping and chain stitched red number ‘12’ beneath the chain stitched image of a crossed pick and shovel. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘12th Pioneer Btn. / 24th Res.Div. / 11/June 1918’.

Shoulder strap for the 21st Pioneer Battalion. Black strap with red piping and chain stitched red number ‘21’. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘21st Pioneer Btn. / 21st Div. / 22 Aug.1918’.

Shoulder strap for the 358th Pioneer Company. Black strap with red piping and chain stitched red number ‘358’. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘358th Pioneer Co.’.

Shoulder strap for the 2nd Pioneer Battalion. Black strap with red piping and chain stitched red number ‘2’. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘2nd Pioneer / Battalion / 8/Aug.1918’.

Shoulder strap for the 26th Pioneer Battalion. Black strap with red piping and chain stitched red number ‘26’. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘26th Pioneer Bn. / 41st Div / [illegible] 1918’.

Black shoulder strap with red piping and Borten [grey wool Non Commissioned Officer (NCO) lace] for an Offizier-Stellvertreter (Deputy or Acting Officer). The lace has faded except in areas which indicate that the strap once had the metal badges that read ‘MW’ over a number that may have been ’13’ or ‘18’. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘Officer (Acting) / Garde-Pioneer / Regiment / 8/9 Aug.1918’.

Shoulder strap for the Guard Pioneer Company, 1st Guards Division. Black strap with red piping. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘Garde-Pioneer / Company / 1st Guards Div / 1/Sept. 1918’.

Shoulder strap for the Guard Pioneer Company, 2nd Guards Division. Black strap with red piping. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘Garde-Pioneer Co. / 2nd Guards Div. / 8/9 Aug. 1918’.

Shoulder strap for the 7th Pioneer Battalion. Black strap with red piping and chain stitched red number ‘7’. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘7th Pioneer / Battalion / 8/Aug.1918’.

Shoulder strap for the 24th Pioneer Battalion. Black strap with red piping and chain stitched red number ‘24’. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘24th Pioneer Btn. / 19th Res. Div. / 8/Aug.1918’.

Shoulder strap for the 17th Pioneer Battalion. Black strap with red piping and chain stitched red number ‘17’. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘17th Pioneer Btn. / 43rd Res. Div. / 8/Aug. 1918’.

Shoulder strap for the 27th Pioneer Battalion. Black strap with red piping and chain stitched red number ‘27’. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘ 27th Pioneer Btn. / 27th DIVISION / 8/Aug.1918’.

Shoulder strap for the 33rd Pioneer Battalion. Black strap with red piping and chain stitched red number ‘33’. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘33d Pioneer Btn. 108th Div / 8/Aug 1918’.

Shoulder strap for the 233rd Pioneer Company. Black strap with red piping and chain stitched red number ‘233’. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘233 Pioneer Co. / 117th DIVISION / 9/Aug.1918’.

Left to right row 2:

Shoulder strap for the 27th Bearer Company [Field Ambulance]. Cherry red strap with field grey backing and chain stitched yellow number ‘27’. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘27TH Bearer Co. / 18/Aug. 1918 / (Sanitäts-Companie)’.

Shoulder strap for the 576th Bearer Company [Field Ambulance]. Cherry red strap with field grey backing and chain stitched faded yellow number ‘576’. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘578 [sic] Bearer Co. / 185TH Div. / Sept. 18/1918’.

Shoulder strap for the 626th Bearer Company [Field Ambulance]. Cherry red strap with field grey backing and chain stitched yellow number ‘626’. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘626 Bearer Co. / Army Troops / Sep/27/1918’.

Shoulder strap for the 17th Bearer Company [Field Ambulance]. Cherry red strap with field grey backing and chain stitched faded yellow number ‘17’. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘17th Bearer co. / 13th Div. / 8/9 Aug./1918’.

Shoulder strap for the 259th Bearer Company [Field Ambulance]. Cherry red strap with field grey backing and chain stitched yellow number ‘259’. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘259th Bearer Co. / 225th Div. / 8/Aug. 1918’.

Shoulder strap for the 107th Bearer Company [Field Ambulance]. Cherry red strap with field grey backing and chain stitched yellow number ‘107’. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘107th Bearer Co. / 107th Div. / 22/Aug. 1918’.

German medical officer's silver braid shoulder board, with wool cloth piping, welt buttonhole at neck end. The piping around the board is discoloured, but appears to have been red (it now has a purple tinge) in front of black piping. Further black piping is located on the board, between the two rows of silver braid. The braid is interwoven with black threads. Attached to the board is a gilded badge of the rod of Asclepius, a Greek symbol consisting of a single snake entwined around a staff, above a rank pip. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘(Unterstabs-arzt.) / Medical Officer / 22/Aug.1918’

Light grey shoulder strap with field grey backing. The strap has Tressen [silver NCO lace]. Attached to the strap is a badge (possibly brass) of the rod of Asclepius, a Greek symbol consisting of a single snake entwined around a staff. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘(Unter-arzt) / Lieut. / 8/Aug.1918’

Shoulder board for an officer of the 217th Flying Squadron. Silver braid board, with white wool cloth piping, welt buttonhole at neck end, and metal (possibly kriegsmetall) badge attached. The badge is painted grey and consists of a vertically aligned propeller with wings. The silver braid is interwoven with black threads. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘Officer / 217th Flying / Squadron / 22/Aug.1918’.

Shoulder strap for Jagdstaffel [ Jasta] 69 [69th Pursuit Squadron]. Light grey strap with field grey backing for an Offizier-Stellvertreter (Deputy or Acting Officer). The strap has Borten [grey wool NCO lace] with a repeated diamond pattern. Attached to the strap is a gilded badge consisting of a vertically aligned propeller with wings. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘Acting Officer / 69th Pursuit / Squadron (Jagd-Staffel) / 11/Aug. 1918’.

Shoulder strap for the 7th Flying Squadron. Light grey strap with field grey backing and chain stitched red number ‘7’ beneath an appliquéd felt image of a vertically aligned propeller with wings. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘Private / 7th Flying / Squadron / 10/Aug. 1918’.

Shoulder strap for the Saxon 19th Army Corps Mechanical Transport Column. Black herringbone weave cotton strap with chain stitched red letter ‘K’. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘ 19th (Saxon) / Army Corps / M.T. column / 9/Aug. 1918’.

Shoulder strap for the 737th Company Army Service Corps. Blue strap with field grey backing and chain stitched red number ‘737’. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘737 Co. / Army service / Corps / 8/Aug. 1918’.

Shoulder strap for the 2nd Army Mechanical Transport Column. Field grey strap with a chain stitched red letter ‘K’. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘2nd Army / Mechanical Transport / Column / 8/Aug. 1918’.

Field grey Labour Corps shoulder strap. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘Armierungs- / Battalion / (Labor Corps) / 8/9 Aug. 1918’.

Shoulder strap for the Labour Company, Saxon 19th Army Corps. Unlined black cotton tape shoulder strap. The end of the strap (near the button) is folded and sewn together to create a mitred corner. The hole for the button has no reinforcing stitching. Handwritten note above the strap reads: ‘19th (Saxon) / Army Corps / Labor Co. / 9/Aug. 1918’.

Single shoulder straps were routinely removed from dead or captured Germans for intelligence purposes, so that the names of the units opposing the Allied forces could be established.

These shoulder straps were collected and sent to the Australian Corps Headquarters, under the command of Lieutenant General John Monash, in 1918. In a letter dated 21 August 1918 Monash recorded that during the recent advances, the Australians had captured almost 10,000 Germans from 75 different units of the German Army.

Monash arranged for his Intelligence Staff to mount and label 75 straps - one for each unit captured. He planned to send them home to Australia and thought that they could be exhibited to raise money for charity. However, the project appears to have expanded, as eventually six boards, of which this is one, were made with a total of 183 labelled soldier's shoulder straps and officer's shoulder boards.

They represent units captured by Australians from May to October 1918, but most were captured in August and September, with straps captured on 8 August, known as the 'Black Day of the German Army', being most strongly represented.