Souvenir ink well : Sergeant G E Watkins, 39 Battalion, AIF

Souvenir ink well in the form of a miniature French soldier's steel helmet. The helmet, which is painted in the grey-blue colour known as 'horizon blue', is hinged at the rear, and lifts to reveal the well on a flat base underneath. On the inside the helmet are the remains of a fabric chin strap which has been coloured to resemble leather and would, when complete, have passed over the outer front brim.

This souvenir ink well was collected by George Edgar Watkins during the First World War. Watkins was born in Malvern, England, and later immigrated to Australia. Watkins enlisted for service in the AIF in Melbourne on 10 February 1916 aged 23 years. He embarked with 39 Battalion for the Western Front in May of that year, serving in the scout section of the battalion. He was promoted to the rank of corporal in August 1917, then to sergeant in May 1918. On 4 June 1918, Sergeant Watkins was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for as 'leader of numerous patrols, he has been the means for securing valuable information in No Man's Land'. During the war, Watkins kept an extensive record of his daily routines and nightly patrols in diaries and also detailed information in the form of notebooks, hand-drawn maps, plus original photographs. Watkins also collected a vast array of artifacts from the battlefield during the war including a German Mauser Model G98 Rifle and a German flare pistol. All are held in the Memorial's collections. At the end of the war Watkins returned to Melbourne to return to his pre war occupation as a painter. He later married a girl he met while on leave in England during the war, and together they raised a daughter. George Edgar Watkins passed away in 1967.