Silver plated trophy : Sergeant F Duck

Silver plated trophy cup on a wooden base. The trophy has been buried at some stage and the metal is dented with much of the plating missing. It is engraved 'COMMANDING OFFICERS TROPHY', and 'Presented By LIEUT-COLONEL. F.G. GALLEGHAN 30-6-33'. The lower part of the cup is stamped 'EPNS'. The wooden base has traces of a black lacquered or enamelled finish remaining, and has two shield shaped engraved sterling silver plaques attached with ferrous pins which have corroded. The first plaque reads 'Won by SGT. F. DUCK 1933' above a Broad Arrow and the words 'STG. SIL.' The second reads 'Won by SGT. F. DUCK. 1934.' above a Broad Arrow and the words 'STG. SIL.'

This trophy was discovered in a load of soil which was delivered to a property at Clarence Town (Newcastle) in May 2002. It was originally presented by Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Gallagher Galleghan in June 1933, at which time he was Commanding Officer of 2/41 Battalion (that is, the amalgamated 2nd and 41st Battalions, AMF) which was based in the Newcastle area. Galleghan, who had served in the ranks during the First World War, went on to command 2/30 Battalion, AIF, in the Malayan campaign, and was captured by the Japanese in Singapore. Sergeant F Duck may be Frank Edward Duck, a Fruit Hawker from Newcastle who had enlisted in 7 Light Horse Regiment as a 20 year old in October 1917 and returned to Australia in June 1919.