An Axis ornament

Captain Sydney Levine served in the Militia as a dental surgeon from June 1940. He was first posted to the Army Dental Centre at Ingleburn, NSW, where he checked the dental health of recruits. He then transferred to 17th Field Ambulance, based at Bathurst, NSW. While there, he regularly visited the prisoner-of-war camp at Cowra to provide dental services to the inmates. It was on one of these visits that a grateful Italian prisoner presented him with this superbly crafted desk ornament.

i +

The eagle clasping a Roman fasces is made from thin sheet lead or alloy taken from used toothpaste tubes. Fasces are a bundle of rods (usually with a projecting axe blade) that were carried in ancient Rome as a symbol of a magistrate’s power. It later became an emblem of authority in Fascist Italy. Below the fasces are the symbols of the three Axis allies, each contained within a decorated wreath – the Nazi swastika, the Italian coat of arms and the Japanese rising sun. Each symbol is mounted on a coloured backing made from plastic toothbrush handles.

The reverse is inscribed “Ricordo della mia prigionia [in memory of my imprisonment] / Australia Covra 23–3–42 anno xx E.F.” The words after the date translate as “year 20 of the Fascist Era”, using the Fascists’ own calendar that began with their ascent to power. Construction of the Cowra camp was not completed until well into 1944, so the unknown maker of this desk ornament was likely working on it while living in a tent with just the most basic tools and supplies.

i +

In August 1942, Levine enlisted in the AIF, serving with 117th Field Ambulance and 114th Convalescent Depot before being promoted to major in November 1942 and appointed Officer Commanding the 58th Army Dental Unit. Levine later commanded dental units in New Guinea and New Britain, before his discharge from the army on 5 September 1945. 

This article was originally published in Wartime Issue 77, Summer 2016.