Information from the front cover; "DESTRUCTION/ OF AN ARMY/ The First Campaign/ in Libya/ Sept 1940 - Feb 1941/ THE ARMY AT WAR". Part of the William (Bill) THOMASON Collection. Refer Cat No. 4136P for more items.Soft cover book. Cover - heavy weight paper. White and Orange colour print on front, orange and mustard colour background. 63 pages, cut, plain, off white paper. Illustrated in sepia colours, photographs and maps. Dark brown colour ink print. Front and back end papers - contents list and photographs. Fastened with metal staples.publication, book, libya campaign, army, william (bill) thomason collection

Toolbox, made by Salvation Army Brigadier Warren Trestrail (1895-1971), during the Great Depression from recycled kerosene tins and packing boxes. It proved to be a useful piece of furniture as the family moved around Australia during various postings within the Australian States and Territories. In World War II, Warren Trestrail embarked with the first convoy of soldiers from Australia to the Middle East and served as Salvation Army welfare officer through the Libyan campaign, at Tobruk, and in Greece. In 1942, it was announced that Salvation Army war services at Darwin would be placed under his direction. He had previously been in charge of South Australian war activities. The item was donated to the Society in 2001 by Sadie Trestrail, who had been a teacher at Kew East Primary School for many years. It is a fine example of vernacular furniture made of recycled materials .Depression-era toolbox constructed from recycled kerosene tins and parts of wooden packing boxes. The five tin drawers are made of sections of kerosene tins with handles soldered to the centre of each new drawer. A number of drawers have separators constructed of tin or aluminium. The wooden planks encasing the the drawers are covered with a degraded shellac coating. An analysis of the interior indicates that the brand names of the original parts are largely extant. furniture - recycled - depession era - 1930s, great depression - 1930s - australia, warren trestrail, salvation army, vernacular furniture

The 17th Australian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade in the Australian Army. First formed in 1917 during World War I, it did not see any action. Reformed during World War II, before being disbanded in 1946. Today, its name is perpetuated by the 17th Combat Service Support Brigade, which was raised as a logistics formation in May 2006. The 17th Brigade was reformed on 13 October 1939, again as part of the 6th Division, recruited from Victoria. The 17th Brigade fought in the Western Desert Campaign in Libya, the Battle of Greece, the Battle of Wau, the Salamaua-Lae campaign in Papua, and in the Aitape-Wewak campaign in New Guinea. The photographs are of national significance as they may reflect the only known photographs of individuals from WW2.4 page newspaper pictures of 17th Brigade, Second AIFThe Argus 17th Australian Infantry Brigade, Second AIF, Souvenir Supplement, Thursday, February 22, 1940 Page 1 2/5th Battalion - Picture 1 Officers of the 2/5th Battalion; Picture 2 Senior NCO's of the 2/5th Battalion; Picture 3 A Company 2/5th Battalion Page 2 B Company 2/5th Battalion; C Company 2/5th Battalion; D Company 2/5th Battalion Page 3 Headquarters 2/2nd Field Regiment 6th Divisional Artillery; 3rd Battery 2/2nd Field Regiment 6th Divisional Artillery Page 4 Officers, NCO's and men of 2/2nd Field Company, 6th Divisional Engineers; Officers NCO's and men 2/2nd Field Ambulance and 2/2nd Australian General Hospital 6th Divisional Australian Army Medical Corpsaif, army, 17th brigade, second aif, 2/5th battalion, australian army, australian infantry brigade, 2/2nd field aumbulance, 2/2nd australian general hospital, 6th divisional australian army medical corps, 6th divisional engineers

Photograph of a painted portrait of L/- Stan Savige. The signature appears to be 'Manders '45'. He appears to be in uniform and could be from his service in World War 2. Stanley Savige is seen as the founder of Legacy when it was founded in Melbourne in September 1923. He was born in Morwell Victoria on 26/6/1890. He served in the Australian Army between 1915 and 1946, including service in both World Wars. Stanley Savige was awarded a KBE, CB, DSO, MC,ED. Stanley George Savige was born in Victoria in 1890, and enlisted in the AIF (Private 577) in March 1915. He served with 24 Battalion at Gallipoli, and was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant prior to the evacuation, at which he was part of the final holding party at Lone Pine. In France he saw service with 6 Brigade Headquarters as well as with his battalion, and was awarded the Military Cross for his gallantry at the second battle of Bullecourt. In 1918, he became one of a small number of Australians selected for service with 'Dunsterforce' in Persia, commanding 'Urmia Force', and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. Between the wars, Savige continued his military career with the Militia, and by 1939 he held the rank of colonel. When the 2nd AIF was raised, he was placed in command of 17 Brigade, which he led through the campaigns in Libya, Greece and Syria, before being promoted to command 3 Division (Militia) in New Guinea. In 1944, he was appointed GOC 2 Corps, in command of forces engaged in the campaign on Bougainville, and accepted the Japanese surrender there in September 1945. Lieutenant General Savige was knighted (KBE) in 1950, and died in 1954. He is widely remembered for his efforts between the wars in founding the Legacy Clubs (which he modelled on the 'Remembrance Club' formed in Hobart by his friend and former commander Sir John Gellibrand in 1923) to care for the dependants of deceased servicemen and ex-servicemen. These clubs grew into a nation wide organisation which, by the time of Savige's death, was supporting over 80 000 widows and children.This is a photographic portrait of the founder of the first Legacy Club in Australia, Sir Stanley Savige.Black and white photo of a painting of Sir Stan Savige printed onto a postcard.Stamped with 'Photograph No. MH 91859 Supplied by Military History Section (S.D.9,) General Staff L.H.Q. For official purposes ONLY, NOT TO BE PUBLISHED' in purple ink.savige, portrait, stan savige, founding legatees

German Luftwaffe (Land Forces) minefield warning flag from WWII.originally intended to be gas markers, rather than mines, but as it turned out, the use changed .they were mounted on a red metal pole & there were 12 to a set in a leather pack. This Flag was presented to the Treasurer of Waverley RSL. It is a souvenir from Bardia in Libya The Battle of Bardia was fought over three days between 3 and 5 January 1941, as part of Operation Compass, the first military operation of the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. It was the first battle of the war in which an Australian Army formation took part, the first to be commanded by an Australian general and the first to be planned by an Australian staff. Major General Iven Mackay's 6th Division assaulted the strongly held Italian fortress of Bardia, Libya, assisted by air support and naval gunfire, and under the cover of an artillery barrage. The 16th Infantry Brigade attacked at dawn from the west, where the defences were known to be weak. Sappers blew gaps in the barbed wire with Bangalore torpedoes and filled in and broke down the sides of the anti-tank ditch with picks and shovels. This allowed the infantry and 23 Matilda II tanks of the 7th Royal Tank Regiment to enter the fortress and capture all their objectives, along with 8,000 prisoners. In the second phase of the operation, the 17th Infantry Brigade exploited the breach made in the perimeter, and pressed south as far as a secondary line of defences known as the Switch Line. On the second day, the 16th Infantry Brigade captured the township of Bardia, cutting the fortress in two. Thousands of prisoners were taken, and the Italian garrison now held out only in the northern and southernmost parts of the fortress. On the third day, the 19th Infantry Brigade advanced south from Bardia, supported by artillery and the Matilda tanks, now reduced in number to just six. Its advance allowed the 17th Infantry Brigade to make progress as well, and the two brigades reduced the southern sector of the fortress. Meanwhile, the Italian garrisons in the north surrendered to the 16th Infantry Brigade and the Support Group of the British 7th Armoured Division outside the fortress. In all, some 36,000 Italian prisoners were taken. The victory at Bardia enabled the Allied forces to continue the advance into Libya and ultimately capture almost all of Cyrenaica. In turn this would lead to German intervention in the fighting in North Africa, changing the nature of the war in that theatre. Bardia boosted the competence and reputation of the Australian Army. Perhaps most important of all, it raised confidence in the possibility of an ultimate Allied victory around the world, which would lead to the Lend-Lease Act being passed in the United States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_BardiaCloth Flag bearing a skull and cross Bones on a metal spike mounted on a square varnished wooden basebardia, land mine, marker flag, minefield, mustard gas

Book - Account of Battle campaign Tobruk, WW2.Hard cover book. Cover - cardboard, brown colour buckram cover with white print on spine (illegible). 140 pages - cut, plain, off white paper. Illustrated with black and white photographs and maps. End papers - illustrated sepia tones - map of Libya/Egypt (front) - map of Tobruk and battle. Campaign books.Front end paper - handwritten blue pen - "15-"books, military history, ww2, campaigns

Index, bibliography, notes, ill, maps, p.580.non-fictionPeter FitzSimons, Australia's most beloved popular historian, focuses on one of the seminal moments in Australian history: the Battle of tobruk in 1941, in which more than 15 000 Australian troops - backed by British artillery - fought in excruciating desert heat through eight long months, against Adolf Hitler's formidable Afrika Korps. During the dark heart of World War II, when Hitler turned his attention to conquering North Africa, a distracted and far-fl ung Allied force could not give its all to the defence of Libya. So the job was left to the roughest, toughest bunch that could be mustered: the Australian Imperial Force. the AIF's defence of the harbour city of tobruk against the Afrika Korps' armoured division is not only the stuff of Australian legend, it is one of the great battles of all time, as against the might of General Rommel and his Panzers, the Australians relied on one factor in particular to give them the necessary strength against the enemy: mateship. Drawing on extensive source material - including diaries and letters, many never published before - this extraordinary book, written in Peter FitzSimons' highly readable style, is the definitive account of this remarkable chapter in Australia's historyworld war 1939 – 1945 – campaigns – north africa, siege of tobruk

Index, bibliography, maps, p.96.non-fictionThe North African campaign has been studied in detail over the years but much of the study has been dedicated to the battles between the British Eighth Army and Rommel's Afrika Korps. There has been little serious study of Wavell's campaign against Italian forces in 1940-41, nor of the role played by the Australian Sixth Division.world war 1939 – 1945 – campaigns – north africa, libya - campaigns - 1940-1941

p.277.non-fictionThe author's account of his experiences of Russia's rally to stop the Nazi invasion, his personal history of the first months of the invasion, a plane trip to Cairo with Ambassador Steinhardt and party, and the Libyan campaign. world war 1939-1945 - personal narratives, quentin reynolds - biography

Ill, maps, p.221.non-fictionThe story of the Royal Air Force in Libya and Greece during the early years of the warworld war 1939-1945 - aerial operations - britain, world war 1939-1945 - campaigns - north africa

The siege of Tobruk (/təˈbrʊk, toʊ-/) took place between 10 April and 27 November 1941, during the Western Desert campaign (1940–1943) of the Second World War. An Allied force, consisting mostly of the 9th Australian Division, commanded by Lieutenant-General Leslie Morshead, was besieged in the North African port of Tobruk by German and Italian forces. The tenacious defenders quickly became known as the Rats of Tobruk. After 231 days, they were finally relieved by the British Eighth Army. In late 1940, the Allies had defeated the Italian 10th Army during Operation Compass (9 December 1940 – 9 February 1941) and trapped the remnants at Beda Fomm. On 22 January 1941, Tobruk's Italian garrison surrendered. But in early 1941, much of the British Western Desert Force was sent to the Greek and Syria–Lebanon campaigns, leaving only a skeleton force short of equipment and supplies. Adolf Hitler felt compelled to send reinforcements, commanded by Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel, to rescue his beleaguered Italian ally. Rommel launched Operation Sonnenblume (6 February – 25 May 1941), driving the Allies back across Libya to the Egyptian border. However, Tobruk held out, depriving Rommel of a supply port closer to the Egyptian–Libyan border than Benghazi, 560 mi (900 km) west of the Egyptian frontier. The Axis siege of Tobruk began on 10 April and continued despite two failed Allied relief attempts: Operation Brevity (15–16 May) and Operation Battleaxe (15–17 June). The garrison repulsed several Axis attacks. The port was frequently bombarded by artillery, dive-bombers and medium bombers, while the Royal Air Force flew defensive sorties from airfields far away in Egypt. Allied naval forces, such as the British Mediterranean Fleet (including the Inshore Squadron) ran the blockade, carrying reinforcements and supplies in and the wounded and prisoners out. Finally, Operation Crusader (18 November – 30 December) succeeded in raising the siege. Bendigo formed its own 'Assoociation of Rats of Tobruk' in 1949. "Bendigo's Own Rates of Tobruk" by Alma Mulqueen. Soft cover. Front and back covers have feint painted image of fig tree taken from Tobruk Barracks, Puckapunyal. Rats of Tobruk Association logo on back cover, and group of past servicemen marching inset on front cover. Book title written in black on front cover. 172 pages. Black and white images through out. Index of records/service people towards front of book. Contains images of soldiers and a brief summary of their service. rats of tobruk, world war 2, soldiers, bendigo