Prisoner of War trench art cribbage board : Private George Alexander Guthrie Siebert, 2/18 Battalion

Handmade wood and aluminium cribbage board with two boomerang shaped panels of punched out holes for the pegs. There are 60 holes in each boomerang. The board has a hand-engraved card suit in each corner; above the Heart in the top left corner the text 'NX54373 / A SIEBERT'; above the Diamond in the top right corner is engraved '2-18 BN B.H.Q / A.I.F'; below the Club in the lower right corner is 'BLAKANG MATI / CHANGI' ; below the Spade in the lower left corner 'MALAYA / SINGAPORE'.

A diamond shaped central design features a kookooburra, emu and koala. The short edges of the board have small aluminium discs attached by a nail allowing them to swing up and down. The short end discs are engraved 'PEGS'. Turned vertically, each disc covers two holes drilled into the board. The holes are to accommodate the cribbage pegs. Two are missing; two are extant, 36mm long green plastic, possibly made from a toothbrush handle. The board has four small metal feet attached.

Cribbage board made by George Siebert while a prisoner of the Japanese. George Alexander Guthrie Siebert was born on 29 May 1906 in Newtown, New South Wales to Adolphus Ernest and Isabel Agnes (nee Guthrie) Siebert. Before the Second World War, he worked as a carpenter in the tram sheds. In 1931 he married Vera Ida Blanche Tomlin in Sydney. Their son, George Ernest Siebert was born in 1932.

George enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force in Paddington, New South Wales and was assigned service number NX54373. During his time in the army, he went by the name ‘Mick’. He served with the 2/18 Battalion and embarked on the RMS Queen Mary on 4 February 1941 for Singapore. He served in Malaya before becoming a prisoner of war at the surrender of Singapore on 15 February 1942. He was interned for almost five years in Changi and returned to Australia in 1946. While he was interned, he made various POW ‘trench art’ objects which he brought back to Australia. He was discharged from the army on 25 October 1946.

After his return to Australia, he went by the name ‘Alec’. He was rehabilitated at the Concord Repatriation Hospital. As part of his rehabilitation he crafted leatherwork, pottery and sewing. Post-war he trained as a chauffeur. Siebert died on 24 October 1986.