Looking at the delicate model plane, it’s hard to imagine the circumstances in which its maker assembled it.
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A miniature German biplane, it was made from spent bullet shell, uniform buttons and pieces of brass.
This piece of trench art, from the Howden Family of Yarrawonga and donated by Margaret Adkins, is among the many moving and precious items currently on display at the Chiltern Athenaeum Museum.
Volunteers have developed an exhibition around this year’s centenary of the signing of the armistice, honouring the soldiers who fought for their country at the time.
Research done for Chiltern Remembers revealed 405 soldiers from Chiltern were involved in World War I, and for all the wars the town has one of the longest honour boards in rural Australia.
Museum manager Kevin Mayhew said Chiltern was barely 60 years old when a large section of the community left to fight for their country.
“We are proud of their contribution in all arenas of conflict and just wanted to do something to display that pride,” he said.
“There are stories from home about the people left behind, as well as stories of the soldiers.
“We have an original dead man’s penny, which was given to people whose family member was killed.
“They were treated by families at either end of the spectrum – some treasured them and looked after them, others didn’t want to know about it.”
The collection also includes war medals, a copy of ‘Notes on the Laws and Customs of War’, sand from Beersheba and the saddle that belonged to Chiltern Valley man Martin Balsarini.
Maureen Everitt, one of the volunteers who put the exhibition together, said the knitting in the collection also told the story of those left behind.
“Because the soldiers were in wet trenches, they decided at home they’d knit socks – that’s what the women could do to help,” she said.
“They had to buy the little grey sock book, with those funds going to the army, they would have knitting circles and knit the socks and they would be shipped to Sydney.”
The exhibition will be an attraction during the National Heritage Festival, which runs until May 20.