Improvised flag : Sergeant W W Bale, 2/15 Field Regiment

Improvised cotton flag made from scraps of material. The flag is white around the edges and bears an 8th Australian Division Artillery colour patch in the centre. The horizontally aligned oval is divided diagonally red over blue, as worn on the right sleeve of a uniform.

Donated by Dr Charles Rowland Bromley Richards as President of the 2/15 Field Regiment Unit Association and holder of all records relating to this unit association. A piece of paper accompanies the flag and reads 'The acquisition of: 8th Division 2/15 Field Regiment 'Changi' Regimental flag by W.W. (Bill) Bale'. Sergeant Bale writes about how he obtained the flag from No. 2 POW Camp at Changi after the cessation of hostilities. As one of the last of the original occupants of the camp to be evacuated back to Australia, Bale was assigned Orderly Sergeant on that day, 23 September 1945, and took possession of the flag. On their arrival into Sydney on the 'Highland Chieftian' the Captain ordered that the ship be fully dressed (with flags), Bale and his fellow gunners flew their improvised flag from the stem head of the ship as it came into port. NX45688 Sergeant Wilfred Wilton Bale served with 2/15 Field Regiment, during the Second World War. He was born in Port Macquarie, NSW in May 1914 and enlisted for service on 26 June 1940. Bale served in Malaya before being captured by the Japanese and held as prisoner of war. He was discharged on 3 December 1945.