Service dress tunic : Sergeant G E Watkins, 39 Battalion AIF

Other ranks' pattern khaki wool twill service dress tunic with a stand and fall collar. The collar is fastened by a brass hook and eye. Khaki wool shoulder straps are secured to the tunic with a small oxidised brass button and bear oxidised brass 'AUSTRALIA' titles. The collar bears oxidised brass Rising Sun badges. There is a pleated patch pocket on each breast, with triple pointed flaps secured by a single button. Below the waist is a pair of larger expanding patch pockets, which also have triple pointed button flaps. The integral self fabric belt at the waist is finished without a buckle. There is a central pleat gathering into the integral belt. A box pleat extends from the centre back yoke to the bottom of the skirt.The straight cuffs are fastened by a single button, and the sleeves each have horizontally aligned oval shaped brown over red (faded) wool flannel colour patch (of 39 Battalion AIF) sewn on below the shoulder. There are woven cotton sergeant's rank chevrons on the upper right sleeve above a brass fleur-de-lys badge indicating that the wearer was qualified as a first class scout. Above the cuff on the lower right hand sleeve are four faded blue overseas service chevrons. All buttons on the jacket are oxidised brass Australian Military Forces pattern and are secured to the tunic by split rings. A ribbon for the Distinguished Conduct Medal is pinned above the left breast pocket. There is an internal field dressing pocket fitted inside the right skirt of the tunic. Two broad strips of plain weave cotton are sewn inside the tunic fronts behind the opening of the hip pockets to stablise the weight of the contents that might be carried in them. The right strip is stamped in black '25 W (broad arrow) D P'.

George Edgar Watkins was born in Malvern, England, and later immigrated to Australia. Watkins enlisted for service in the AIF in Melbourne on 10 February 1916 aged 23 years. He embarked with 39 Battalion for the Western Front in May of that year, serving in the scout section of the battalion. He was promoted to the rank of corporal in August 1917, then to sergeant in May 1918. On 4 June 1918, Sergeant Watkins was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for as 'leader of numerous patrols, he has been the means for securing valuable information in No Man's Land'. During the war, Watkins kept an extensive record of his daily routines and nightly patrols in diaries and also detailed information in the form of notebooks, hand-drawn maps, plus original photographs. A diary entry from 18 May 1918, provides insight into the nature of the nightly patrols undertaken by Watkins. He wrote: 'Lt August, Lt Miles and Lt Stanley the engineering officer, Scouts Brown, Williams and myself with 20 other men formed a fighting patrol. Moved out in advance of our line for the purpose of finding a good position so that we could advance our posts. The night was very dark and wet. The enemy opened fire on us from his trenches. We returned without a casualty.' Watkins also collected a vast array of artifacts from the battlefield during the war including a German Mauser Model G98 Rifle and a German flare pistol. All are held in the Memorial's collections. At the end of the war Watkins returned to Melbourne to return to his pre war occupation as a painter. He later married a girl he met while on leave in England during the war, and together they raised a daughter. George Edgar Watkins passed away in 1967.