Orderly room sign board : 43 Battalion, AIF

The notice board is constructed of wood with a bevelled edge, painted white. Painted on the left is a 43rd Battalion colour patch, an oval split horizontally and coloured brown over light blue. To the right of the colour patch are the words 'ORDERLY ROOM' painted in black. The black paint is beginning to crack but the words remain easily read. Located centrally at the top of the notice board is a hole used for securing the notice board to a post or door.

An orderly room is used for general administrative purposes for a battalion or company. This sign indicated the orderly room for the 43rd Battalion as it served in Belgium during the First World War.

The battalion embarked in June 1916 and, after landing briefly in Egypt, went on to Britain for further training. The battalion arrived on the Western Front in late December. The 43rd 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 Third Battle of Ypres.

The battalion spent much of 1918 fighting in the Somme valley. In April they helped stop the German Spring offensive at Villers-Bretonneux. In July the battalion was part of General Monash's attack at Hamel. In August and September the battalion helped drive the Germans back to the Hindenburg Line. The 43rd joined the advance that followed the 2nd Division's victory at Mont St Quentin.

Through 1919 the men of the 43rd Battalion returned to Australia in drafts for demobilisation and discharge.