Historical information

This cushion cover was owned by Arthur Lock, a soldier in the 2/23rd Battalion. After initial training in Albury, N.S.W. and Bonegilla, Victoria, they left for overseas service. Embarking in November 1940 on the transport Strathmore at Port Melbourne, the 2/23rd arrived in Egypt in mid-December. From Egypt they were deployed to Tobruk. The battalion helped defend Tobruk for eight months, manning a series of concrete pillboxes located in a semicircle around the town, called the Red Line. In October the majority of the 9th Division, except the 2/13th Infantry Battalion, was evacuated by sea. The 2/23rd left on 18 October and sailed to Alexandria. The division was transferred to Palestine and then Syria for rest and garrison duties.

Significance

This item is part of a collection of items owned by Athur Lock, a member of the 2/23rd Battalion, an all-volunteer Second Australian Imperial Force which served as part of the garrison during the Siege of Tobruk, then at El Alamein, New Guinea and Borneo. It has particular local significance as the battalion was know as "Albury's Own" because a large majority of the battalion's initial intake of volunteers came from the Albury–Wodonga region.

Physical description

A cushion cover embroidered with the insignia of the Australian Commonwealth Military Forces 1941.

Inscriptions & markings

Top 'Souvenir of Palestine" Centre Insignia of the Australian Commonwealth Military Forces, Bottom "1941"