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Tobacco box
Tobacco box

Tobacco box

Date1920s
Object number00037278
NameTobacco box
MediumMetal, paint
DimensionsOverall: 39 x 115 x 75 mm, 80 g
ClassificationsClothing and personal items
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Margaret Kiley-Balas
DescriptionThis large metal tobacco box belonged to John Berchman Kiley and was used to store over 140 cigarette cards collected during his service in the Royal Australian Navy.HistoryJohn Berchmans Kiley was born on 29 January 1910 and joined the Royal Australian Navy in 1925. He began his naval service on HMAS TINGIRA, a ship for boy sailors moored at Rose Bay in Sydney, where he trained for 15 months. He served on HMAS SYDNEY for around 12 months before joining HMAS HMAS MELBOURNE on its last voyage to England in 1928, returning home on the new HMAS AUSTRALIA in the same year. John undertook four years of training at HMAS CERBERUS studying a range of gunnery courses. Kiley reached the rank of Leading Seaman, and to his great disappointment was invalidated out of the navy around 1930 due to respiratory illness.SignificanceThis tobacco box is part of a collection of personal effects belonging to John Berchmans Kiley. It is an important historical record of the daily life of a boy sailor in the Royal Australian Navy in the early 20th century.