Improvised dug out sign, 'The Wozzer' : Rhododendron Ridge, Gallipoli

Sign roughly made of sheet metal, probably taken from a biscuit tin, attached by two nails to a piece of timber which appears to have been part of a box. The metal has an overall patina of (inert) rust, and has been punched with small holes to form the words 'THE WOZZER'.

This sign was collected from a dug out at Rhododendron Ridge (or Spur) in February 1919 by the Australian Historical Mission. The Mission, led by Official Historian C E W Bean, visited Gallipoli in February to March 1919 to collect items for the nation, to record the area through artworks and photographs, and to explore the battlefields to answer some of the 'riddles of Anzac' for the Australian official history of the war.

'The Wozzer', or more correctly, the 'Haret el Wasser' near Shepheard's Hotel in Cairo, was a notorious brothel district, which was well known to Australian and New Zealand troops who had trained in Egypt before the landing.

On 2 April 1915, a riot, called the 'Battle of the Wozzer' took place there. Aggrieved Australian and New Zealand soldiers ran amok, throwing bedding, mattresses and clothing from several brothels into the street and burning them. The British military police were summoned to the scene, but withdrew due to the large crowd, mostly comprised of spectators. Members of the 2nd Australian Division were involved in the 'Second Battle of the Wozzer' in August 1915.