Sapper John (Jack) Hoey Moore DCM, made this bone-handled knife and case - using either deer, donkey or horse bone - while serving with the 1st Field Company Engineers, Australian Imperial Force (AIF).
New Zealand-born, 'Anzac Jack' served with the AIF at Gallipoli and later on the Western Front. He made the knife while recovering from wounds received at Gallipoli and sent it home to his mother in New Zealand. It was enclosed in an ornate wooden case bearing the inscription 'Te Pohutukawa, Knife made by Sapper J.H. Moore.' His mother used it to raise funds for war-ravaged Belgium.
In July 2007 New Zealand's National Army Museum hired a forensic anthropologist to examine the knife's handle. Moore had claimed that the bone for the handle was human, and he even noted that on the inscription of the case. The forensic tests concluded that the bone was from either a deer, horse or donkey. Many horses and donkeys were killed at Gallipoli, and it is likely that Sapper Moore picked up one of these bones.
- Read more about 'Anzac Jack' here.
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