A MUSEUM-quality piece of Australian history with direct links to Murchison’s Prisoner of War past went under the online hammer this week, featuring an incredible story dating back to the 1940s.
Created between 1941 and 1943 by Italian Lieutenant and POW, R Trucco, a 1:333 scale model of the Sydney Harbour Bridge made out of salvaged materials found from around the Murchison POW camp went up for auction on Monday night.
Accompanied with 25 pages of handwritten letters and handmade original crates, this one-of-a-kind piece of history has many stories to tell.
The Italian Lieutenant was captured at Bardia, Libya in 1941 and held at Murchison as a prisoner of war. With no mechanical qualifications he made this remarkable working model of the famous bridge taking him two years to complete.
Made from salvaging materials and improvising on tools it consists of 25,000 separate parts and 50,000 joints, with a very strong eye for detail.
After the war Lieutenant Trucco wished to take the model home, however was prevented from doing so where it was then left to Sergeant William Meredith of Horsham who was a member of the POW military Staff at Murchison during Lieutenant Trucco’s stay in camp.
Sergeant Meredith brought it home to Horsham where he displayed it at district shows and exhibitions in the early post war years.
The item was listed for public sale via auction for the first time with Melbourne’ Lloyds Auctions, with bidding ending on Monday evening.
