Mounted Service breeches : Private R F Bourne, 2 Light Horse Field Ambulance, AIF

Australian Army Mounted Service pattern khaki cotton drill breeches. The six buttons on the waistband and six-button concealed fly are made from brown plastic. A slash pocket is located on each side of the fly at the waist, and there is a single rear pocket with a button closure on the right hand side. All the pockets and waistband are lined with heavy cream-coloured cotton drill. Protective chevron patterned panels of additional drill have been sewn onto both inner legs. On the outside of both leg cuffs are eight pairs of vertical rows of hand-stitched eyelets fitted with khaki woven cotton laces. The bottom edge of the cuffs and the waistband are trimmed with a narrow band of cream-coloured cotton fabric. '32.(?) / 888' has been stamped inside the high back.

These breeches were worn by 1613 Second Lieutenant Ralph Fielding Bourne, who enlisted in the AIF as a private on 20 May 1915. He embarked for overseas service with special reinforcements to 1 Australian Hospital Ship 'Karoola' on 12 June 1915 and arrived in Egypt on 20 July 1915. Pte Bourne became an orderly in a hospital at Heliopolis before being posted to 2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance, AIF, in late December 1915 or early January 1916. He served as a stretcher bearer in the Suez Canal and Sinai areas. Bourne was discharged on 16 December 1916 for the purpose of taking up a commission in the Royal Engineers as (temporary) second lieutenant. In this new engineering role, he undertook survey work at the rapidly expanding camp at Kantara on the Suez Canal. In late 1918, he transferred from Kantara to Jerusalem where he was said to have been involved in designing a new sewerage system for Jerusalem. Construction had begun before he was posted back to Kantara in April 1919. He was posted from Egypt to England for repatriation in May 1919 and departed London on SS 'Norman' on 9 July 1919. He was discharged at Brisbane in August 1919.