German 201st Reserve Infantry Regiment shoulder strap : Lieutenant General Sir John Monash, AIF

Shoulder strap for the 201st Reserve Infantry Regiment. Field grey wool strap with white piping and red chain stitched number '201'. With the strap is a handwritten note in graphite pencil on the back of a piece of a German postcard that reads, 'Shoulder- / Strap / 201st R.I.R. / 43rd Res. Div. / captured / by / 4th Aust. Div. / 8.7.18.'

Single shoulder straps were routinely removed from dead or captured Germans for intelligence purposes, so that the names of the units opposing the Allied forces could be established.

This shoulder strap for the 201st Reserve Infantry Regiment (RIR) was collected on 8 July by members of the 46th Battalion, AIF and was sent to the Australian Corps Headquarters, under the command of General John Monash.

Due to the attack on Hamel, the 201st RIR had been moved to the line north of the Somme River. A few nights later, on 7/8 July, 'B' and 'D' Companies of the 45th Battalion advanced during an operation to straighten their section of the line opposite 201st RIR.

B Company successfully captured several posts. It was later discovered that D Company were in rear of their own objective, with a very active machine gun in front of them, but they succeeded in capturing it the following night. Thirty two unwounded German prisoners were taken by the 46th Battalion during these nights.