Virtual Visit #39 - A Simple Red Tie

The Australian Army Museum of Western Australia has recently acquired for its collection, an object of extraordinary simplicity but one redolent of emotional and social significance. Few of these items long survived the war when their original purpose passed but they remained a reminder of painful wounds (both physical and mental) and convalescence for numberless veterans. They were also a reminder of social stratifications existing at the time even in the most egalitarian of societies.

The object in question is a length of red cotton fabric, fashioned as a necktie and on our example stamped with the broad arrow ordnance marking and the date 1917.It is the red necktie which formed part of the so called Convalescence Blues uniform ensemble worn by Australian wounded in military and convalescent hospitals in Britain during World War One. The photo above shows Martin O’Meara wearing such a tie at Wandsworth Hospital while recuperating from wounds received in 1916.