| Places | |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | REL43091 |
| Collection type | Heraldry |
| Object type | Heraldry |
| Physical description | Cotton |
| Maker |
Curyer, Howard William |
| Place made | Australia: Victoria, Puckapunyal |
| Date made | c 1952-1953 |
| Conflict |
Korea, 1950-1953 |
Decorated and autographed handkerchief : Private H W Curyer, 2 Battalion Royal Australian Regiment
Description
Cream cotton man's handkerchief intended to be displayed in a diamond alignment. The uppermost corner shows ' "B" Coy.' in large black outlined letters. Beneath, in black indelible pencil and coloured crayons, is a strawberry blonde pin-up girl, her hair tied in a black ribbon, and wearing black lace-edged panties and long black gloves. Around her are the signatures of most of the men in the Company. Those men with specialist training in mortars or Bren guns are indicated by a small image of the relevant weapon beside their names, which are also circled, as is one of the company's Scouts, indicated by a small image of his specialist badge.
The name of the maker and owner of the handkerchief, together with his state of origin and a Bren gun can be seen above the girl's head: 'S.A./ HECK/ PTE. CURYER'.
History / Summary
This handkerchief was decorated by 41336 Private Howard William 'Heck' Curyer, of B Company, 2 Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (2 RAR).
Curyer, born at Clarendon, South Australia on 25 September 1933, joined the Regular Army on 25 March 1952. His initial training took place at Puckapunyal in Victoria. He is thought to have completed the drawing on this handkerchief there, after he had been assigned to 2 RAR, but before the battalion left for service in Korea. Although most of the names on the handkerchief are those of men from the battalion, not all of those who can be identified served in Korea. The addition of the names may have been an ongoing process that was completed in Korea.
Curyer and his battalion arrived in Korea on 17 March 1953. He served there for just over a year, leaving to return home on 6 April 1954. His subsequent army service was spent entirely in South Australia, mainly as an instructor at Woodside for 16 National Service Training Battalion. In 1960-1961 he was posted to Maralinga to take part in clean up operations there after the British nuclear tests of the late 1950s. Curyer was discharged from the army in March 1961.