Crested china 'Bleriot Warplane' aircraft : Lieutenant H F Slocombe, AIF

China ornament in the shape of an French aeroplane. The edges of the wings are gilded as is the top edge of the fuselage. The aircraft has the coat of arms of Plymouth on the wingspan. There is a large hole int he top section of the fuselage, behind the wings, indicating where the pilot would sit. There are also two small holes, one on either side of the fuselage directly behind the wings. On the underside of the fuselage is the text 'SHELLEY CHINA / 311 / MODELS OF / BLERIOT WARPLANE'.

Herbert Frederick Slocombe was born on 4 February 1889. He enlisted in the AIF on the 16 September 1914 and embarked from Melbourne on the 22 December, with the rank of sergeant, on board HMAT Ceramic. When he arrived in England he was assigned to 301 Mechanical Transport Army Service Corps, 17 Division Ammunition Park. On 12 July 1915 he left Avonmouth, in England for Rouen, France, on board SS Saga, arriving on 15 July. He served on the Western Front and as a warrant officer with 4th Ammunition Sub-Park, in July 1917, was awarded a Military Cross for his actions at an ammunition dump which had caught fire at Vlamertinghe, Belgium. He returned to Australia on 9 December 1918. During the Second World War he enlisted again, on 2 April 1940, giving his date of birth as 7 February 1894. He served in Australia until 21 July 1941, when he was discharged. Crested china collecting became a craze in the Victorian period when tourists bought small ivory coloured porcelain ornaments decorated with the coats of arms of the towns they visited to take home as a souvenir. Before the First World War companies (the most famous and the original being Goss crested china) made collectibles such as vases, plates and other crockery, houses, public buildings, cars and replicas of visitor attractions. During the war the range of souvenirs was expanded to include military caps, equipment and vehicles. Crested china often reflected the interest in new technologies being used in the war, such as recreating tanks, armoured cars and submarines. This is one of three military themed pieces of crested china that Slocombe collected from Plymouth during the war