Wire frame toy jeep: Superintendent G A Hazel, Australian Federal Police

Hand made 'framework' toy jeep, with a body and chassis realised from bent wire, all bound together with thin rubber stripping. The wheels are made from Pepsi cans, cut in half and nestled together, retained on the wire axles by beer bottle caps and knotted rubber. A 1180 mm long tree branch is bound to a wire joined to the left side of the front chassis, and when turned, warps the chassis and wheels to allow steering. The top of the branch is fitted with a bent wire steering wheel, attached with rubber stripping.

Toy jeep acquired as a souvenir in Mozambique, from a 12 year boy 'entrepreneur' in exchange for US dollars, by Superintendent Geoffrey Hazel, Australian Federal Police (AFP) during his service as commander of the Second Contingent of 16 AFP members to serve with the United Nations Operation in Mozambique (UNOMOZ) from September to December 1994.

Following independence in 1975, Mozambique suffered from years of civil war between communist forces and local rebels, backed by Rhodesia and South Africa. By 1990 the country had suffered a million dead, three million internally displaced, and a decimated infrastructure. A peace deal brokered in 1991 led to the ONUMOZ deployment, a civil police (rather than a military) operation which employed 1,086 police officers from 29 different countries. The operation's mandate was to verify the demobilisation, disarmament and withdrawal of foreign troops in Mozambique, to assist and monitor the organisation of elections and coordinate humanitarian assistance. Both AFP contingents (the first, led by Superintendent Bob Bradley, served from March to September 1994) were broken up into small units and deployed across the country. Members of the Second AFP Contingent were: John Brereton, Mick Calatzis, Andrew Clarke, Aaron Crabtree, Anthony Crowe, Robert Edwards, Adrian Gawned, Robert Gilliland, Geoff Hazel, Keith Martin, Kurt Plummer, Frank Priest, Shan Rice, David Savage, Rick Smeltink and Paul Stewart. Superintendent Hazel had already seen extensive military service in Vietnam (with 3 RAR, December 1967 - November 1968; and the AATTV from September 1970 - September 1971), and served with peacekeeping deployments in Cyprus, East Timor and The Solomon Islands.