Soldier's sewing kit

This home-made sewing kit was owned and used by a New Zealand solder during WWI. Originally, it would have contained small sewing accessories such as needles, safety pins, buttons, and thread, that were necessary for the upkeep of a soldier's uniform and for sewing on markers of military identity such as cloth insignia and badges.

Known as a housewife or hussif, this kit was probably gifted or issued to Private Vincent John Stichbury while he was preparing to go overseas with the Main Body of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.

A housewife was considered to be an essential component in a solider's kit and by 1916, over 8,000 had been distributed to troops by the New Zealand Defence Force. Many local patriotic organisations also gave them to troops as farewell gfits.

Private Vincent Stichbury, a clerk from Auckland, was the original owner of this object. He served at Gallipoli, was wounded in action on 8 May 1915, but returned on 24 July after a period in hospital on the island of Malta. A photograph of him sitting with mates in a trench at Quinn's Post, appeared in the Auckland Weekly News on 23 September 1915. This photograph would have been taken before Vincent Stichbury was hospitalised with enteritis on 9 September, this time on the island of Lemnos.

The conditions at Gallipoli seriously affected Vincent Stichbury's health. Instead of going to the Western Front in April 1916, he was sent to England. However, a medical report dated December 1916 noted that because of his health, it was 'not wise for him to remain through the winter in England'. Vincent Stichbury was consequently classified as unfit for active service, debilitated by enteric fever and bronchitis, and returned to New Zealand in March 1917.