Australian Legion of Ex-Servicemen and Women Life Member Badge awarded to Private Mervyn HARRIS. The Australian Legion of Ex-Servicemen and Women is an ex-service association. Formed in December 1944 from a number of existing organisations, membership of the legion is open to all ex-service personnel, including British Commonwealth and Allied personnel, and former members of the peacetime Australian regular and reserve forces. The legion has branches in each state, and sub-branches in major cities and towns, with its national headquarters located in Melbourne, Victoria.Gold coloured metal and blue badge with crown on top Australian Legion of Ex-Service Men and Women Life Memberaustralian legion of ex-servicemen and women, private mervyn harris, life membership badge

1914-1919 Victory Medal awarded to MS 4292 SGT A SUTHERLAND ASC - nil further known and unable to confirm service history.Round bronze medal - The obverse shows figure of 'Victory' (or 'Victoria') with her left arm extended and holding a palm branch in her right hand.The reverse has the words ‘THE GREAT / WAR FOR / CIVILISATION / 1914-1919' in four lines, all surrounded by a laurel wreath.The ribbon has an iridescent multi-colour scheme and attaches to the medal through a ring suspender The recipient's name, rank, service number and unit is impressed on the edge of the medal. MS 4292 SGT A SUTHERLAND ASCmedal, ww1, sgt a sutherland, asc, army service corps

Medal awarded to Private C T WHYMAN 554269 who served with the 16th London Regiment (County of London). The 16th Battalion was known as the Queen's Westminster Rifles, an Infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1908 and disbanded in 1938. The Battalion was engaged on the western front between 1914 and 1918. The item was found and no further information is known regarding Private WHYMAN.Round bronze medal - The obverse shows figure of 'Victory' (or 'Victoria') with her left arm extended and holding a palm branch in her right hand.The reverse has the words ‘THE GREAT / WAR FOR / CIVILISATION / 1914-1919' in four lines, all surrounded by a laurel wreath.The ribbon has an iridescent multi-colour scheme and attaches to the medal through a ring suspender The recipient's name, rank, service number and unit is impressed on the edge of the medal. 554269 Pte C T WHYMAN 16 LOND Rww1, 16 london regiment, c t whyman, 1918, victory medal

Three original WW2 medals awarded to 51647 Charles William FRENCH born 8.2.1911 at Wahgunyah in Victoria. He enlisted on 2.2.1942. FRENCH served with the RAAF as a Leading Aircraftman and was attached to the 12 Aircraft Repair Depot when discharged on 13.1.1947.1939-1945 War Medal, Australian Service Medal and Defence MedalThree found white metal medals attached to multi striped colour ribbons.51647 C W FRENCHmedal, ww2, raaf

Colour photograph of Lt General Brian Ashley "Ash" Power AO, CSC . Ash Power was born on the 20th of January 1957 in Wangaratta, Victoria. After completing his secondary education at Wangaratta High School, he entered the Royal Military College in 1975, graduating in 1978 into the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery. His initial appointment was as a Section Commander in 4th Field Regiment. He further served in 4th Field Regiment as a Gun Position Officer, Assistant Adjutant, Adjutant, Operations Officer (BatteryCommander Headquarters Battery) and Commanding Officer.Ash has commanded the 1st Brigade, 1st Division and Training Command – Army. He has served on exchange at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Camberley, United Kingdom and has had other training appointments at the School of Artillery, and the Royal Military College Duntroon. He also served as the Defence Attaché in Thailand. On operations Ash deployed to Bougainville on Operation BELISI as Chief of Staff in 1998 and in 1999, after a short period as Chief of Staff Deployable Joint Force Headquarters, was deployed as the Colonel Operations for INTERFET in East Timor. From June 2004 to July 2005 he was appointed as Director, Combined Planning Group, US Central Command, Tampa. He deployed as the Deputy Chief of Staff, Strategic Partnering Headquarters International Security Assistance Force, Kabul, Afghanistan in 2010-11. Lieutenant General Power retired from the Army on 19 July 2014, his final posting being the Chief of Joint OperationsBrown timber frame containing photograph of uniformed Army Officer ash power, australian army

Brown vinyl wallet containing various papers including identity card, receipt for 60 pounds deposit for 1929 Dodge dated 23/12/1947, Ministry of Food vouchers, postcard, newspaper cutting, black and white photograph of two young boys with a bicycle - handwritten on rear from Mrs T A Karnatz Tawonga Roadside Wodonga Victoria Australia to Private Thomas Karnatz Prisoner of War No 139745 ARB KDO 7001 Stalag 11B Germany. Item belonged to Thomas Allan Karnatz VX 48290 2/24 Battalion - born 16/7/1916. Enlisted Albury 22/7/1940 - Caulfield 8/8/1940 aged 24 years 17/10/1940 posted from 2/23 to 2/24 Battalion. Embarked 16/11/1940 and disembarked Middle East 17/12/1940. Reported missing in action on 6/5/1941 and officially prisoner of war on 8/7/1941. 26/4/1945 arrived UK recovered POWBrown vinyl wallet containing assorted military and personal papersInside printed in gold lettering - Good wishes from the Australian Red Cross Societyww2, pow, 2/24 battalion, t a karnatz, tobruk

Black powder splitting guns were commonly used to split large logs into more manageable pieces before the advent of excavators and front-end loaders in bush logging operations. A typical splitting gun used in Victorian forests was a piece of high-grade steel about 1-1/2 to 2 inches in diameter and about 16 inches long, and slightly tapered at one end. They had a ¾ inch hole drilled about 9 inches deep into the centre of the shaft with a small pilot hole drilled from the outside to load the fuse. The tube was carefully loaded with an amount of black gunpowder using a funnel and spoon. Experience being the guide on how much powder to use, which depended on log size, species and difficulty of splitting the wood. The hole was stopped with a piece of wadded paper and the gun positioned at the end of a length of the log to be split. The splitting gun was then belted into the log with a large wooden maul or even the back of an axe to a depth of about 3 to 4 inches. There were often markings as a guide. This also had the effect of tamping the black powder inside the gun. Preferably the gun was backed up by another large log to absorb the shock and avoid it flying off in the bush somewhere. I have seen guns where a length of string and coloured flag could be attached to help find them. A length of fuse was then inserted in the small hole and lit. Kaboom !!!! Needless to say, the splitting gun was a dangerous implement.Commonly used to split pulpwood but now rareBlack Powder Splitting GunFive marking rings used to guide how far the gun was in the logforest harvesting

The Victorian School of Forestry (VSF) was established in October 1910 at Creswick. It was located at the former Creswick Hospital, built in 1863 during the gold rush. The creation of VSF was one of the many recommendations of a Royal Commission held between 1897 and 1901 into forest degradation. The first tertiary forestry school in Australia, VSF was administered by the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) until 1980, when VSF amalgamated with the University of Melbourne to become that institution's School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences. Over the period from 1910 to 1980, 522 students completed the Diploma of Forestry at VSF.Limited Edition Print number 92 of 200. Framed Print - Hospital and Spring Hill from Church Street, Creswick" by T.G. Moyle, 1881Published by Trustees of Creswick Historical Museum 1981. Gift from Lorraine Carr (wife of Neil Carr ) in 2003 written on label on back

From the early 1960s, the Forests Commission had pre-season arrangements in place with local aeroclubs and pilots across regional Victoria. Air observers from FCV districts routinely flew during the summer months in small, fixed-wing aircraft on fire spotting missions and to map fire boundaries. The information was often needed quickly by crews on the ground or in the control centre and these small chutes were used to drop messages and maps from the reconnaissance aircraft on a low pass above a cleared area like a football field. About 3-foot long when fully extended, they had a small pouch secured with a press stud for the map or package. The chutes were made from tough canvas with a small, weighted sandbag at one end and a long yellow streamer tail on the other to help direct its fall and locating it on the ground. Drop chutes were still in common use in the 1990s, but the increased availability of helicopters combined with improved digital data transfer made drop chutes redundant. Simple, but now redundant technologyAerial drop chute"Return to Forests Comm Vic" stenciled on sidebushfire

This sign is believed to have hung outside the Benalla Forest District Office. The sign features a pine tree (so probably made before the 1956 restructure). In 1956, the new Chairman of the Forests Commission, A V Galbraith, introduced a major restructure of the organisation to create 56 Forest Districts. The process included amalgamating the plantations and hardwood divisions, which had been separate and rival entities up to that time. Things remained largely unchanged for the next three decades until the early 1980s. The iconic Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) “two-tree” logo was designed in the early 1960s by graphic artist, Alan Rawady.Benalla Forest District Office Sign

A mortising tool is a specialist axe designed for hewing sills and cutting notches in timber. It has a long, narrow head, making it easier to work on large logs. The shape enables the user to cut a long way down into the notch, where otherwise a chisel would be used. Example of a common bush woodworking tool used before the advent of chainsaws and power equipmentMortising Tooltimber tools

Wood auger often used to drill holes for bridge decking spikes.Wood auger with handletimber tools

Bushfire perimeter rather than bushfire area is the main control problem for firefighters on the ground. A conundrum rapidly compounded by spot fires. A small 5 ha fire can be nearly 1 km around the perimeter. That's a long way to build a control line by hand in rough bush. Dry firefighting techniques by hand were mostly confined to “knocking down” or “beating out” the flames, as well as "digging out". Digging or raking a “mineral earth” trail down to bare dirt proved most effective in forest fuels which, unlike grass, tend to retain heat and smoulder. Early tools were whatever happened to be close at hand. They were simple and primitive and included shovels, slashers, axes, hoes, beaters and rakes. A cut branch to beat the flames was often the only thing available. Farming and logging tools, developed over centuries of manual labour, and readily available at local hardware stores came into use, but little thought was given to size, weight, and balance. For years foresters experimented with combination tools. In about 1952 fire beaters and other implements were being replaced with Rakuts.Fire tool used before the introduction of RakehoesRakut - Fire Rake and cutting toolGreen and red coloured handle and 020 marking indicated which FCV District the tool belonged tobushfire

There are two categories of cutting edge on broad axes and both are used for shaping logs by hewing. 1. Single bevel axe - one side is flat and the other side bevelled, also called a side axe. The handle may curve away from the flat side to allow an optimal stance. The flat blade but can only be worked from one direction and is right-handed or left-handed. 2. Double bevel axe - both sides are bevelled and produces a scalloped cut. The axe has a straight handle and can be swung with either side against the wood. A double-bevelled broad axe can be used for chopping or notching as well as hewing. Broad Axe - Double bevelled edge Straight wooden handlesmall lettering and government crows foot

Used in FCV nurseries for creating shallow planting lines in seedbeds Light weight designWooden planting rake with 8 teethplantations, nurseries

An Adze is versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with the sharp cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. The wooden handle is straight and the blade has a slight curve. They are used for smoothing or carving wood such as sleepers An adz, with its long handle, cuts with the grain, and the nature of the chips is different from an axe. While they have a similar shape, they should never be confused with a hoe or mattock used for agriculture and horticulture. Adze - smalltimber tools

Also known as a froe (or frow), shake axe or paling knife, this tool is used for cleaving wood by splitting it along the grain. The L-shaped tool is hammered on the top edge of its blade into the end of a piece of wood in the direction of the grain, then twisting the blade in the wood by rotating the haft (handle).Shingle knife or paling splitter Metal knife with short wooden handletimber tools

A mortising axe is designed for trimming or cutting notches in timber. It has a short handle and square cutting edgeMortising Axe - smalltimber tools

A mortising tool is a specialist axe designed for hewing sills and cutting notches in timber. It has a long, narrow head, making it easier to work on large logs. The shape enables the user to cut a long way down into the notch, where otherwise a chisel would be used.Example of a common bush woodworking tool used before the advent of chainsaws and power equipmentMortising Tool, AxePrades Co Solid Steeltimber tools

An Adze is versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with the sharp cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. The wooden handle of this adze is shaped like an axe handle and the blade also has a slight curve. They are used for smoothing or carving wood such as sleepers An adz, with its long handle, cuts with the grain, and the nature of the chips is different from an axe. While they have a similar shape, they should never be confused with a hoe used or mattock for agriculture and horticulture.Adze - Largetimber tools

Continuous cutting chain was patented in 1905 by Samuel Bens of San Francisco, while the first portable chainsaw was developed and patented in 1918 by Canadian millwright James Shand. But the main advancements of modern petrol chainsaws occurred in Europe in the 1920s and 30s where Andreas Stihl is often hailed as the "father of the chainsaw" After the second world war lighter materials, metal alloys and improved engine designs revolutionised the logging and timber industry. Of interest on this model is the spacing of the teeth compared to modern machines. With a 4HP motor it has few safety features and is very heavyEarly model chainsawBurns ChainsawModel 106forest harvesting

Spurs were attached with leather straps which held them to the climbers legs. The straps are missing on this pair They have a contoured shank with offset stirrup for the climbers boots Buckingham manufacturing dates back in America to 1896. Climbing spurs were made in their blacksmith shop and were popular with linesmen, loggers and tree arborists. Buckingham steel climbing spurs

Foresters usually measure the diameter of trees at Breast Height – traditionally 4 foot, 6 inches – now 1.3 m – which is termed Diameter Breast Height Over Bark (DBHOB). The most common way to measure tree diameter is to place a calibrated tape around the stem at breast height. It’s simple, but can be slow, particularly if the scrub is thick, or if there are heaps of trees. A tree caliper is another quick method of estimating DBHOB. Wooden tree measuring calipersMeasurements are in inches (pre metrication in 1974) A crown faint crown mark (331) and crows foot is visible on one end forest measurement

The Forests Commission began using computers in the 1960s for resource inventory under the Chief Forest Assessor Murray Paine IBM introduced the Port-A-Punch in 1958 as a fast, accurate means of manually punching holes in specially scored IBM punched cards. Designed to fit in the pocket, Port-A-Punch made it possible to create punched card documents anywhere. The product was intended for "on-the-spot" recording of data such a assessment plotsThe IBM Port-A-Punch prepared computer data and programming cards. Normally there is a a separate stylus pen, similar to a ball-point pen to punch the holes in the cards, but it is missing This instrument consists of a plastic frame that holds 13 long plastic rectangles along its length. A transparent plastic template which has an array of evenly spaced holes fits over the rectangles, and cards are placed over this. IBM Portapunchforest measurement

Back pack used to carry portable two-way radios and spare batteries to remote bushfiresCanvas backpackFCV Radio Labbushfire

Canvas bag issued to FCV staff to take personal belonging to bushfiresCanvas Bag for personal gearRus Ritchie, Divisional Forester, Wangarattabushfire

The Forests Commission had a large and active engineering branch which was often called upon for major demolition or quarry work. Most overseers, as well as some foresters, were trained in the use of explosives to “blow stuff up” such as removing stumps and rocks from roads. Districts usually had a small powder magazine tucked away in the bush for storage of gelignite and detonators.Sample board showing examples of explosives and detonatorsroad construction and maintenance.

Pulpwood was often split by hand or with black powder splitting guns into more manageable sizes and cut into 8 foot lengths (or billets). Billets were first stacked endwise to drain the sap and lighten the load before they were loaded by hand onto flat bed trucks for transport to the mills. This long length metal hook was used to pull and manoeuvre the pulpwood billets onto the truck. The advent of excavators in logging operations in the 1970s led to the loading and carting pulpwood in long tree lengths.Long steel tool with handle on one end and hook on the other.

The origins of the humble handheld driptorch have been lost in time. They are widely used for ignition in controlled burning operations in forest and grasslands. The “Pacific Forester“ with its short central wand and somewhat leaky ball-valve was made by the American Wajax company in the 1940s. The Pacific Forester is slightly different in design from the more robust and common “Panama” driptorch first manufactured in 1933 and used extensively by Queensland cane farmers. The Panama is closely related to the current “Firebug” used in Victoria which is manufactured by Rodney Industries in Brisbane and has an offset wand design which gives it good balance. The fuel is a mixture of petrol and diesel and every FCV District had their own closely-guarded secret formula ... 2:1, 3:1, 1:1, 4:1 or 3:2 ratio. There was also the choice of 91, 95 or 98 octane petrol mixed with summer or winter diesel. Occasionally some of the old Avgas or Jet-A1 lying around the depot was added with a splash of engine oil to make the mixture stick to the fuel to be ignited. The fuel mixed also varied between autumn or spring, heathland, mixed forest, or high-intensity slash burnsCommon driptorch used throughout AustraliaDrip torch with handle Wand has loop and valve. The loop is designed to assist with even flow of fuel which flows out onto the burning head of the wand. Pressure equalising value in top of aluminum fuel container which holds 4 litres of burner mix. Gravitational feed of the driptorch allows the unit to drip fire, making it simple and quick to operate. Instructions for use. CF+L written with texta pen.bushfire

Soon after the outbreak of World War Two, the British Government requested experienced forestry soldiers from Australia, New Zealand and Canada to be deployed in France as part of the British Expeditionary Force. The first Forestry Company (2/1) was based in Sydney with men from NSW, Queensland and South Australia, led by Captain Cyril Richard Cole, a professional forester from the Australian Capital Territory. The second Forestry Company (2/2) included many Forests Commission staff, local sawmillers and experienced bushmen from Victoria, WA and Tasmania including veterans of the First World War. They were led by Captain Andrew Leonard (Ben) Benallack, a graduate from the Victorian School of Forestry in 1922. Both Forestry Companies sailed from Fremantle on the Stratheden in late May 1940 and landed in England not long after the evacuation of Dunkirk. The foresters were recalled to Australia at the insistence of Prime Minister John Curtin in late 1943 because of the War in the Pacific. After reequipping and some refresher training in jungle warfare at Kapooka the 2/2 Forestry Company was deployed to Lae in Papua New Guinea in May 1944. This photograph was probably taken in Australia before deployment to PNG.Photo in wooden frame of Royal Australian Engineers Forestry Company