Trench art letter opener : Reverend P T B Clayton, Army Chaplains Department

Trench art letter opener. The blade consists of a flattened piece of brass etched with 'HILL - 60' and is attached to the handle via a bullet which has been sliced through the middle. The handle is made from a .303 cartridge. A small Ypres town crest is attached to the cartridge.

Associated with the First World War service of Reverend Philip Thomas Byard Clayton. Clayton was born in Maryborough Queensland on December 12 1885, but travelled to England with his parents two years later.

Gaining a First Class Degree in Theology, Clayton became a curate at St Mary's, Portsea in 1910. He remained there until embarking for France as an Army Chaplain in 1915.

In December 1915 Clayton opened a soldier's rest-house at Poperinghe, Belgium. Poperinghe was the assembly point for tens of thousands of Australian, British, Canadian and Indian troops on their way to and from Ypres. Earlier in the year Reverend Neville Stuart Talbot, senior chaplain of the British 6th Division saw the need for a place where troops of all ranks could relax and enjoy a brief respite from the horrors of the Front Line. He appointed Clayton to establish this place - Talbot House or 'Toc H'. Talbot House remained open until 1918 when German advances brought it directly into the firing line.

Clayton gave this letter opener to his friend Harry Clarendon Whittle as a souvenir. Whittle enlisted in the AIF on 19 July 1918 while a medical student at Sydney University, however he did not serve overseas so it is not clear where or when he received the letter opener.

Whittle was born in Quirindi, NSW on 2 September 1896. He re-enlisted during the Second World War as a qualified medical practitioner and was attached to 9 Australian General Hospital. He embarked for overseas service with this unit on 5 February 1941, arriving in the Middle East on 23 March.

On 2 June Whittle was killed from injuries sustained after he was thrown off a tank that was travelling down a steep slope. He was buried at Chatby British War Memorial Cemetery, Alexandria.

Whittle's son, John Clarendon Whittle also served during the Second World War with the Royal Australian Navy. He suffered multiple wounds to his left arm and leg while serving aboard HMAS Hobart during the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942. Recovering from his wounds, Whittle was demobilised on 20 March 1945 to study medicine at Queensland University.