It looks like a makeshift cricket bat, but it's actually an improvised 'pudding mixer' from the First World War.
Lance Sergeant Edward McRae used it to make Christmas puddings for wounded men in France while serving with the 10th Field Ambulance. More than 100 years later, his improvised pudding mixer is part of the National Collection at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
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Memorial curator Dr Kerry Neale said the 'pudding mixer' was a poignant reminder of the men and women who were serving away from home in the First World War. "This improvised mixer was used to make Christmas puddings for the staff and patients at the Main Dressing Stations occupied by the Field Ambulance in 1916 and 1917.
"It was made from a wooden plank from a shipping crate, packed by the Country Freezing Company, which may originally have contained butter or frozen meat."
Lance Sergeant Edward McRae had enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at Coleraine, Victoria, in November 1914, describing himself as a cook and baker. He initially served in Australia, firstly with D Squadron Depot, and from January 1915 with Z Company, 4th Depot Battalion, and later with the Clearing Hospital at Seymour, Victoria.
This improvised mixer was ... made from a wooden plank from a shipping crate.
- Memorial curator Dr Kerry Neale
He was transferred to the 10th Field Ambulance a few months after its establishment at Ascot Vale and embarked for overseas service in June 1916, arriving in France in November 1916.
"McRae kept the 'pudding mixer' with him and used it to make puddings for Christmas 1917. For some reason, McRae decided not to keep the mixer any longer," Dr Neale said. "And on Boxing Day 1917, he donated it to the Australian War Records Section." The Australian War Records Section had been formed in London in May 1917 and was responsible for collecting and preserving records and artefacts relating to Australia's experiences in the war.
Over the next two years, the records section collected approximately 25,000 objects and paper records, photographs, film, publications, and works of art. The items were brought to Australia in 1919, forming the basis of what would become the National Collection at the Australian War Memorial.
Claire Hunter is a writer with the Australian War Memorial.
