Souvenir of Egypt : Private B A Tudor, 23 Battalion, AIF

Diamond shaped yellow and pink cotton sateen souvenir of Egypt. The embroidery is machine-chain stitched and features a stencilled Australian coat of arms as a centre piece with a filled orange kangaroo and a black and white emu. Above the arms in a cursive font is 'Souvenir of Egypt 1916' and beneath is 'Advance Australia' in a stencilled green scroll. Beneath the scroll in green stitch is 'From Arthur to Dear Mother'. The souvenir has a gold metallic braided border.

This souvenir was purchased by Private Bruce Arthur Tudor of 23 and 58 Battalion, AIF. Born at Gawler, South Australia in 1885, Tudor was a butcher when he enlisted as private 3266 in the AIF on 10 July 1915. He embarked from Melbourne aboard HMAT 'Commonwealth' with 7th reinforcements, 23 Battalion on 26 November 1915. He arrived at Alexandria in Egypt in late 1915 and would have purchased this souvenir for his mother during the months he spent in Egypt when he was granted leave. These types of souvenirs were very popular with Australian troops serving in the Middle East, as they were colourful, easy to send home and could be easily personalised with a date and message.

Tudor was transferred to 58 Battalion in February 1916 in Egypt during the expansion of the AIF. He was admitted to hospital with a hernia in Egypt on 1 April 1916 and returned to his unit. Unable to recover he was readmitted to hospital on several occasions, when it was decided he required surgery. He was returned to Australian for an operation on 10 June 1916, and discharged on medical grounds on 11 December.