Handmade envelope : Private R N Coates, 8 Battalion, AIF

Handmade paper envelope recycled from cardboard cartridge case packet, with 'MRS. R. N. COATES, VICTORIA ROAD, AUBURN VICTORIA. AUSTRALIA' hand written on the obverse in purple ink. The envelope is constructed with two pieces of rectangular paper stapled together. There is a circular and square postage stamp in the upper right corner on the obvserse. The circular one reads 'AUST. DIV. FIELD.'.

This envelope was handmade by Private Reginald Norman Coates, 8 Battalion, on Gallipoli from a cartridge case packet during a shortage of paper. It is likely to have been used in June-July 1915 when the conditions were such that the troops had run out of paper, necessitating the letters sent home to be written with improvised materials. Coates posted it from Gallipoli to his wife.

Coates enlisted on 19 August 1914 in the early weeks of the First World War. He served on Gallipoli, where he suffered from shock and was admitted to hospital on Malta in August 1915. He later served in France where he transferred to 14 Battalion and was promoted to lance corporal. On 11 April 1917, Coates was captured and interned in the Soltau Prisoner of War Camp in Hanover, Germany. He was repatriated to England on Boxing Day 1918.

He returned to Australia in April 1919 and was discharged from the AIF on 19 August.