Toy train coal tender : Lieutenant W A Cartwright, 2/2 Infantry Troops Workshop, AEME

Red painted toy coal tender made from sheet brass, screwed together. The wheels have been turned from brass. One side of the tender is missing. There is evidence that the tender was painted or undercoated in gold paint prior to the red coat being applied.

Related to the service of NX202112 William Albert Cartwright, born Sydney, NSW on 26 May 1914. Cartwright was married with two children when he enlisted on 30 August 1943 with the Australian Electrical & Mechanical Engineers (AEME). After training in Victoria and northern Queensland and attaining the rank of Lieutenant, Cartwright served with 2/2 Australian Infantry Troops Workshops in the vehicle section, moving with them from Townsville to Morotai in early 1945 and later participating in the Oboe 2 Operation at Balikpapan, Borneo in early July 1945. During his Queensland and overseas service, Lieutenant Cartwright took advantage of the workshop facilities at his disposal to make these toys (see also REL36622) as birthday presents for his son Brian (born June 1940) which he sent home in 1944 and 1945. The family (Brian, his sister and mother) was then living in Homebush and while Brian cannot recall which toy arrived first, he remembers he regarded both toys ‘as very special and held pride of place in my bedroom for many years. During the war, and for the 5 to 10 years following the war, times were tough and children were lucky to have more than a few precious toys.’ The toy train has had the most use, having lost most of its paint and one of the tender sides. Indeed, Brian relates ‘the train also came with two passenger carriages and a circuit of railway line made out of brass strips’, items which have since been lost. The M1 37mm round around which the train is based was most commonly used by the M3 Stuart light tank. Lieutenant Cartwright was discharged on 8 February 1946.