Heirloom’s mystery military past

PRIVATE Duncan Luttrell will have a special memento when he marches down Macquarie St today.

Private Duncan Luttrell on soldiers memorial walk on the Domain with his grandfathers matchbox which he made from a german soldiers belt.

PRIVATE Duncan Luttrell will have a very special memento when he marches down Macquarie St for the Tasmanian Anzac Centenary Commemoration today.

He will carry a matchbox protector made from a German soldier’s belt buckle. The matchbox belonged to his great grandfather Horace Lyle Luttrell, a light machine gunner who fought in World War I.

Private Luttrell said he was not sure of the story behind the belt buckle which has “Gott mit uns” on one side (God is with us) and “Luttrell, Belgium, 1913” punched into the other side.

“I can only assume there was one way of getting his hands on it,” Private Luttrell, 28, said.

Horace Luttrell was a draper from Strahan before joining the war effort.

He survived and returned to Strahan where he became a local councillor and mayor.

Private Luttrell said he had heard many tales from his grandfather who – as a West Coaster – knew the secrets to survival.

“He [Horace] was said to have the first house in Strahan to have electricity when he attached a wind turbine to a small generator,” he said.

Private Luttrell said everything he learned in school about the Anzacs was true — particularly the mateship and the loyalty.

“But my parents always added that the Anzacs are the real moment when our country was formed — when we gained the idea of who we really are.”

Private Luttrell said he hoped to pass the piece of precious military memorabilia on to his own children one day.

At 1pm today about 160 soldiers will march from Anglesea Barracks to the Hobart Town Hall to exercise the Freedom of Entry granted 100 years ago. Lord Mayor Damon Thomas will review the troops at 1.15pm before the battalion marches on to the Cenotaph for the planting of a lone pine and the launch of Tasmania’s Centenary of Anzac commemorations at 2pm.

More details at www.centenaryofanzac.tas.gov.au

Originally published as Heirloom’s mystery military past