German 28th Reserve Infantry Regiment shoulder strap : Lieutenant General Sir John Monash, AIF

Shoulder strap for the 28th Reserve Infantry Regiment. Field grey wool strap with white piping and red chain stitched number '28'. A piece of string is tied around the strap. With the strap is a handwritten note, in indellible pencil on the back of a piece of a German postcard, that read:s 'Shoulder strap / 28. R.I.R. / 185th Div. / captured / by / 2nd Aust. Div. / 18.8.18'.

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.

This shoulder strap from a member of the German 28th Reserve Infantry Regiment (RIR) was captured by members of the 23rd Battalion, AIF soldiers while fighting at Herleville and sent to the Australian Corps Headquarters, under the command of General John Monash.

The 2nd Division was ordered by Monash to capture an objective near Herleville. On the night of 17/18 August, the 23rd Battalion took part in a raid during which they captured some of their objectives and discovered that a fresh German 185th Division, which included the 28th RIR, had come into the line south of Herleville. This shoulder strap is thought to have been collected during the raid. At 4.15 am the next morning the main assault began, during which the 23rd Battalion captured the rest of its objectives.