[Editor: A humourous item published in Aussie: The Australian Soldiers’ Magazine, no. 3, 8 March 1918.]
That Museum.
I had a dream the other night. I was walking through the Australian War Museum in the year 3018. The principal exhibit was an Aussie tunic, to which this notice was attached:—
“AUSSIE JACKET. A relic of the War Age. Worn by fighting tribe, often known as Billjims. (Derivation: “Bill,” something to pay; “Jims” great pain. The Billjims had something very painful to pay to the Fritzahs, a hostile tribe.) Billjims were supposed to have had peculiar fascination for opposite sex, especially when on leave of absence to Lon Don, a large village outside the war zone. They were frequently called among themselves “Diggers” or “Cobbers.” The Belt around the Jacket is survival of very ancient bush custom when original Billjims (then called “Binghis”) wore belt of Euchre-hippus leaves sprinkled with the historic Dinkum Oil. Billjims, were also known as Anzacs, Aussies, Dinkums, and other names unmentionable. They intermarried with English and French females, and are now extinct.”
“Ex-Private.”
Source:
Aussie: The Australian Soldiers’ Magazine, no. 3, 8 March 1918, page 10
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