Souvenir olive wood and carved mother of pearl trinket box from Jerusalem

John Griffith McGibbony was born on 27 June 1919 in Geelong, Victoria. He enlisted on 3 November 1939, aged 20 and his occupation was listed as farm labourer and blacksmith. His service number was VX3944.
He served in the Middle East from April 1940 until August 1942, a total of 843 days, after which he returned to Australia, attended Army School, and continued to serve with Light Horse reinforcements until 27 April 1945.
He presumably bought the trinket box between 1940-1942.

Visiting servicemen and women purchased a variety of souvenirs from Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Palestine and The Holy Land while passing through on active service during both world wars.
Some of the more common items were embroideries such as cushion covers, painted artworks on fabric, jewellery made from mother of pearl, metal and timber, and photo albums with wooden covers filled with postcards of local scenes and pressed dried flowers.
There was also a range of trinket boxes, often with hidden drawers, made from the local olive wood and a range of other olive wood items including napkin rings and even a portable book shelf.