AIF embarkation kit bag : Corporal G Binns, 1 Machine Gun Battalion, AIF

Black canvas AIF embarkation kit bag with brass 'D' ring for closure. The tubular bag has 12 brass eyelets placed around its opening, and is reinforced with a second layer of canvas at the base. A large 'D' ring with a hinge at one end and hole to take a lock at the other is present to securely close the bag. The words 'No 712. G. BINNS. 2. A.M.G. COY. A.I.F.' are stencilled in white paint on the side, with '712 G. BINNS A.I.F.' repeated on the base.

Gordon Binns was born in 1899, and began his compulsory cadet service in March 1913. In February 1917, aged 18, he enlisted in the AIF, becoming number 712 in the 13th reinforcements to 2 Machine Gun Company. After sailing to England on the 'SUEVIC', he was sent in March 1918 to reinforce 6 Infantry Battalion, but almost immediately transferred back to 1 Machine Gun (MG) Battalion, of which 2 MG Company was a part. Binns was wounded in action on 10 August 1918 when his unit was supporting the Australian attack on Lihons, and spent over a month in hospital. Upon release, he was again transferred, this time to the Australian Provost Corps, where he served out the remainder of the war. Gordon Binns returned to Australia in 1919. He died in 1976.