Just to muddy the waters a little more…

 

General consensus here is that it might not be the 8th Army 'Desert Rats' you're looking at, as we are pretty sure the Desert Rats never fought the Japanese.  However, there's an interesting bit on Wikipedia about the 'Rats of Tobruk' many of whom were ANZACs and eventually fought against all three of the Axis powers: The 9^th Australian Division served in Tobruk and got the nickname the Rats of Tobruk and was one of the few Allied units who served against the Germans and Italians in North Africa and the against Japanese.

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rats_of_Tobruk

 

And Richy found this:

 

http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-battles/ww2/tobruk.htm

 

which gives details and shows some rat-shaped memorabilia made by some of the soldiers.

 

 

Jenny Brown

P Please consider the environment - Do you really need to print this email?

 

 

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Dear all

 

Thanks very much for all your responses!  You have certainly helped me understand this object better, and I am sure that the enquirer will be delighted to know more about it as well.

 

For anyone else who has been following the discussion with interest it is worth adding some information from Keith Matthews at York Castle Museum who agrees that the rat is an emblem of the Desert Rats.  He says that such items were often produced in field workshops from scrap, often from looted sources, or from the battlefield.

 

Many thanks once again

 

 

Ellenor

 

 

 

Hi folks

 

My money would be on this being a piece of post-Second World War memorabilia produced by/for a member of the UK's 7^th Armoured Division, the Desert Rats. The rat (actually a Jerboa) was/is their unit emblem. They fought in North Africa and in NW Europe and were (I think) distinguished in fighting against Germany, Italy and Japan.

 

Cheers

 

Ben

 

 

Dear all

 

I was wondering if anyone could shed any light on the significance of this object.  It was brought into Lancaster City Museum for identification.  It seems to be a paperweight or desk decoration, but we are quite puzzled about the flags and the rat.  One flag is a Japanese naval ensign, the other looks like a swastika but we think it pre-dates the symbol's use by the Nazis, and I have no idea what is on the third flag.  Anyone have any ideas what the collection of symbols and the menacing giant rat might mean?!

 

Many thanks

 

Ellenor Swinbank

 

Assistant Keeper

Lancaster City Museum

Market Square

Lancaster

LA1 1HT

 

01524 555610

 

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