The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
Improvised wooden pipe with a vaguely octagonal shape bowl. The shank is reinforced with a wrapping of cotton drill fabric overlaid with what appears to be latex (this was very common at this camp as rubber trees grew nearby). The stem and mouthpiece form a poor fit into the shank. The top of the bowl is discoloured from the smoking process and is split horizontally about halfway round its diameter.
The pipe is accompanied by a gummed cut-down address label carrying the number '21'; and by a manila coloured Military History Field Team label.
This collection of pipes (REL/01988 - REL/01995) was collected by the Military History Section Field Team attached to 9th Australian Division Headquarters. Writing on 25 September 1945 to John Treloar, Director of the Australian War Memorial, and describing their activities at the Kuching POW camp, an unidentified officer wrote:
'With regard to the relics, before the Australian officers left on the morning of 13 Sep, I got them to make a selection of personal relics for the AWM. These included improvised comforts, home-made pipes, etc, some of them with a story attached. I left these at the office of the Barracks pending spraying with disinfectant, informing the staff what they were and placing a big notice on top of the box stating that the contents were relics required by the AWM and were not to be touched. You can imagine my feeling on calling back for them to find that a newly-arrived officer had assumed it was rubbish left by the Japs and had had the lot burned. However we were able to duplicate most of the items from other Australian Officers huts.'
Improvised prisoner's smoking pipe, the bowl crudely shaped like an elongated hexagon. The shank has split and there is what appears to be a repair along the split line. The stem is a length of bamboo
Improvised smoking pipe with an octagonal bowl and an octagonal shank. This is likely made from wood local to Borneo. The mouthpiece appears to be fashioned from a piano key or similar; it has yellowe
Improvised pipe made entirely from bamboo. The bowl is a naturally hollowed out section of bamboo cut at one of the nodes. The stem is a smaller length of bamboo which makes use of the hollow nature o
Carved briar pipe with a round shank with silver fitment and tapered 1/4 bent Ebonite stem. The bowl of the pipe is engraved 'ANZAC 1915' on the front. The pipe is stamped 'BARLING'S MAKE' on the left
Crude smoking pipe with shank made from local clay and fired. The pipe was used with the stem (REL/1961.003) which also served another pipe. The interior of the bowl contains tobacco residue. Crude
Bent neck pipe, with an enclosed, lidded aluminium bowl. There are two different types of wood making up the pipe - an unidentified soft wood from which the bowl surround and the bent section are made
