Wallet : Private William John Holt, 2/4 Machine Gun Battalion

Brown folding leather wallet. Faded gold lettering on the bottom right corner reads 'TO WILLIAM HOLT. FROM HIS COMRADES BERRY SILVER BAND'. The inside of the wallet is lined with brown cotton material. There is a larger compartment that runs across the opened length of the wallet and there are six compartments over this. Each of the smaller compartments is labelled in gold lettering according to what each is designed to hold 'Cards' 'Banknotes' 'Cheques' 'Letters' 'Receipts' and 'Stamps'.

Carried by WX7550 Private William John Holt of 2/4 Machine Gun Battalion. Holt was born in Cottesloe Beach, Western Australia on 9 July 1903 and was working as a pastrycook at the time of his enlistment on 6 August 1940. Holt served in Malaya until his capture by the Japanese and internment in a Prisoner of war camp, Thailand. He died of illness on 20 August 1943, at the age of 40. His wallet was recovered by a fellow prisoner, Staff Sergeant S E Cameron of 2/19 Battalion, who took it back to Australia after his own release.