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Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum > Records

First World War Turkish Prisoner of War Beadwork Necklace

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Turkish POW

c. 1916

Overview

Orange handmade necklace made of 21 crochet beadwork 'beads', interspersed with sections of thinner beadwork tubing. The 'beads' are made from orange, dark blue, and white glass beads. At the end of the necklace a triangular pendant hang from another large 'bead', with a diamond pattern in the same colours as the 'beads'. The pendant has a white, black, light blue, dark blue and clear gold beaded fringe on the lower edge.

Historical information

Except for fatigue duties, prisoners were generally not required to work. Making craft items, along with playing sport, games or music helped them pass the time. The prisoners also made these items as a way of making some money to buy extra rations and supplies, such as coffee or tobacco; to barter with other prisoners; or as gifts for friends or family.
The Ottoman Empire stretched from the Balkans to the Sinai, and the soldiers in its armies came from throughout the empire, so the maker may not have been ethnically Turkish. While the bulk of the Memorial's collection comes from Egypt or Palestine. There were also prison camps in England, Salonika, Cyprus, Mesopotamia, India and France where prisoners made souvenirs.
Ref: Australian War Memorial, Canberra

Details

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-12-1988.11.1

Item type

Souvenirs

Themes

War and Conflict > World War 1

Material

Cotton

Glass

Keywords

First World War

Turkish POW

Souvenir

Place made

Egypt

Year

Primary significance criteria

Artistic or aesthetic significance

Scientific or research significance

Social or spiritual significance

Comparative significance criteria

Interpretive capacity

Rare or representative

Public location

Barracks Front Gallery

Google Maps search term / URL

https://maps.app.goo.gl/gWHZtRH1mm24SAjK8

Geotag

-35.030449, 117.912878
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Links to additional resources

Turkish Prisoner of War beadwork necklace

Last modified

Wednesday, 8 April, 2026

Completeness

100

Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum

Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum

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First World War Turkish Prisoner of War Beadwork Necklace

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