Improvised sign 'PEG TRENCH' : Pozieres, France

Improvised sign made from a pair of planks held together by five timber battens. The raw timber sign, which is extensively damaged, has been painted with the words 'PEG TRENCH' followed by a left facing arrow and 'To fro' in black lettering. The letters 'nt', which would complete the word 'front', are missing, and appear to have been destroyed by shellfire. A small section of a British trench map showing the village of Pozieres, and which indicates that Peg Trench was near Munster Alley and Torr Trench, is attached with three drawing pins to the lower part of the sign. The remains of a white adhesive label are attached to the upper part of the sign. This sticker was apparently a presentation label and is mostly indecipherable, the legible parts reading 'presented by Lt' and '20th Bn'.

Improvised trench sign from the Pozières - Mouquet Farm area of the Somme, which was heavily fought over by Australian troops in July-September 1916.

'Peg Trench' (map grid 57d X5b) was a communication sap connecting to 'Dot Trench' (map grid 57d RR34b, R35c-d, X5b, X6a), the two apparently having been named after the daughters of Brigadier John Keathy Forsyth, commander of the 2nd Australian Infantry Brigade. The Trench was located south east of the windmill.

The sign was collected by 882 William Alfred Howells, a British-born merchant seaman who enlisted in the AIF in March 1915, and became an original member of 20 Battalion. Howells was commissioned in March 1917, and ended the war with the rank of lieutenant.

The 20th Battalion took part in the fighting at Pozieres until it was relieved on 6 August when they went behind the line for rest and training. On the night of 21/22 August they returned to Pozieres until 27 August. Due to the battalion's subsequent movements and Howell's service, it is likely he collected the sign during this later period at Pozieres.