Identity disc : Private C J Irwin, 1 Anzac Cyclist Battalion, AIF

Improvised identity disc made from a George V halfpenny. The reverse has been filed smooth and them impressed 'C.J. IRWIN. 1 CYCLISTS. 383 A.I.F. P'. A section of leather thong is threaded through a hole stamped out on the upper edge of the disc.

This improvised identity disc was made and worn by 383 Private Colin James Irwin of 1 Anzac Cyclist Battalion, AIF. Irwin, a 24 year old bush labourer, was born at Graman, New South Wales, and enlisted at Ashford on 11 September 1915. After basic training near Sydney Irwin left Australia aboard the troopship HMAT A46 Clan McGillivray on 3 May 1915. After he arrived in France Irwin transferred to 53 Battalion, AIF in September 1916 and was assigned the service number 383A. At the end of December, suffering severe trench feet, he was evacuated to England. After his release from hospital in March 1917 he was sent for further training before rejoining his battalion in July. Irwin was wounded in action at Polygon Wood near Ypres, Belgium, on 26 September 1917. As a result his right leg was amputated below the knee. He was again evacuated to England and after lengthy convalescence returned to Australia on 18 March 1919. On his return to Sydney he met and fell in love with a volunteer Red Cross nurse, Doris Grey. They married at Petersham in 1920. Irwin was employed for the rest of his working life, until the 1950s, at the artificial limb factory at Strawberry Hills in Sydney, which specialised in the development of improved prosthetics for returned soldiers from both world wars.