The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
Small magnetic escape compass contained in a round bakelite toothpaste container with part of the lid cut out to show the compass pointer, made from two luminous watch hands and two magnetised crewel needles, inside. These are mounted on a rectangular celluloid strip which rests on the tip of a cut off glass vial. The vial rests on a needle tip placed in a small piece of wood which has been glued to a round of lightweight cardboard fitted into the base of the bakelite container. A celluloid insert has been placed in the cut out part of the lid. Four arrows have been scratched into the bakelite rim of the lid to indicate the cardinal points.
Made by VX4688 Private Reginald Lawrence Glanville, of 2/7 Battalion, while working as a prisoner of war labourer in a beet sugar factory in Silesia in 1944. He used a bakelite toothpaste container from a Red Cross parcel, two needles obtained from a Polish girl who was a forced labourer in the factory, the luminous hands from his own watch and a glass vial from the factory's laboratory waste. His first attempt to magnetise the compass using the factory's electricity supply effectively blacked out the entire factory and he narrowly avoided detection. Glanville was allowed some freedom of movement outside the factory camp and had arranged an escape attempt with two prisoners from another work camp. The attempt was abandoned when the two men travelling to meet him for the attempt were shot and captured.
Magnetised strip of diamond-shaped steel sheet with 3 small holes, two at one end filled with luminous radium paint, enclosed with a spot of varnish on either side (indicating North), with another sma
Short wave radio receiver housed in a wooden opened backed case with a mock bakelite front and control knob. The reciver is complete with its original German headphones. They are impressed on the earp
Small round floating compass sealed in a yellow plastic pouch. Threaded through the top is a blue cotton tape tied with a knot. This tape is 380 mm in length. Small rotor compasses were sealed in cl
Original cardboard carton containing a standard Red Cross food parcel as issued to Allied prisoners of war in Europe. Marked on top of lid with a red cross and 'KRIEGSGEFANGENENPOST PRISONER'S PARCEL
Small handmade escape compass in a wooden container. The container originally contained Swedish Soletter Astra saccharine tablets from a Red Cross parcel. The free moving cardboard dial is marked with
A hinged horseshoe shaped compass known as an 'Armeemodell I.' and used by the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I. The hinging lid is made from white metal that has been painted black on the ins
