From the Collection

Storage is limited but we are developing a small collection of objects, photographs, some archival material and oral histories. Our objective is a collection of significant, well documented items of strong interpretive value which document the Brisbane wartime experience.

Three children’s identity discs

Keeping children safe was a high priority particularly with the entry of the Japanese into the war in 1942. The State Government had plans prepared for the evacuation of 100,000 school children away from Queensland’s coastal strip. Then, on 27 January, it closed schools in the north and along the coastal strip indefinitely. The house to house evacuation census conducted at the same time fuelled and reflected community anxiety.  While most citizens were prepared to stay and fight, they wondered - What do we do with our children?
One step which was taken was the promotion of identity discs for children.

Amongst the items in the collection which reflect the theme of children in wartime we have three identity discs.

1. This is a child’s identity disc bought in Brisbane in 1940 for Nancy Jameson of Sandgate. It is bone, marked with the child’s name on one side and her address on the other. It is pierced at one end, with string threaded through the hole so it could be hung around her neck. It was meant to be worn at all times. (Donated by Nancy Parker)

2. This child’s identity disc is a metal dog tag. It was worn during the war years by Peter Nunan who lived at Ashgrove. His name and address are on the front and Brisbane on the back. (Donated by Peter Nunan)

3. This is a sterling silver identity bracelet. It takes the form of an oval disc, pierced with a hole at either end with a chain attached to each end. The child’s name and address are engraved on the front of the disc. It was worn by Noela Kreigher of Buranda. (Donated by Noela Oswin)

The discs are distinctively  wartime objects. They are direct evidence of the impact of war on the experience of children.  They document the concern of a society with the safety of its children in the face of war. They are also distinctively part of the material culture of wartime Queensland. Given the expectation of air raids and the invasion of Brisbane, the discs were an obvious precaution. They would enable children to be organised and protected when they were to be evacuated or when there was chaos and confusion after a raid. They would help with finding children in those circumstances and they would assist with the identification of bodies. It appears that not many of these discs have survived. So the relative rarity of these, together with their established provenances, enhance the historical significance derived from their association with the experience of children in wartime Brisbane.

We would like to collect more of these discs.