Desk of Major General Gordon Bennett, 1942

Delivered to the Army Museum as a piece of office furniture in 2014, its significance was discovered through a photograph in the collection. Its provenance was subsequently confirmed as the desk of the senior army officer in Western Australia used successively by GOC 3 Aust Corps, Commander Western Command, Commander 5th Military District and Commander 13 Brigade. The desk along with Bennett's hat, gloves and swagger stick are located in the entrance to the World War Two Gallery. Also on the desk is an official publication, a Malay - English dictionary and phrase book with a prophetic introduction by Bennett on the importance post war, of a knowledge of the languages of South-East Asia. The General’s portrait, painted by local artist Margaret Johnson, entered in 1943 for the Archibald Prize, is located in the Singapore exhibit further along in the Gallery.