Orderly room sign board : 40 Battalion, AIF

Improvised sign constructed from a piece of wood with a bevelled edge. A piece of string, used for hanging the notice board, is fed through two holes located centrally at the top of the notice board. The notice board is painted white with the words 'ORDERLY ROOM' stencilled in black paint. These letters are made more prominent by the use of various shades of grey paint creating a three dimensional effect. The colour patch of the 40th Battalion, an oval split horizontally with the top half being white and the lower half red, is set within a thin black border just below the hanging string at the top of the notice board.

An orderly room is used for general administrative purposes for a battalion or company. This sign indicated the orderly room for the 40th Battalion as it served throughout France and Belgium during the First World War.

The battalion embarked for the Western Front in July 1916 and by December was serving in the trenches in France. The 40th Battalion spent 1917 bogged in bloody trench warfare in Flanders. In June the battalion took part in the battle of Messines and in October the battle for Broodseinde Ridge.

The battalion spent much of 1918 fighting in the Somme valley. In March they met the German Spring Offensive at Morlancourt. In August and September the battalion helped to drive the Germans back to the Hindenburg Line.

Between February and September 1919 the men of the 40th Battalion returned to Australia for demobilisation and discharge.