Stolen statue bayonet returned

20 December 2018

A bayonet stolen from the Desert Mounted Corps Memorial in 1985 has resurfaced and been donated to the Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum.

Thieves stole two bayonets from the memorial 33 years ago after major conservation work on the statue had just been completed.

The original Desert Mounted Corps memorial was erected in Egypt and destroyed during the Suez Canal crisis in 1956. A new statue made and placed atop Mount Clarence and officially unveiled on October 11, 1964 by then Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies.

The Forts Curator David Theodore said to have one of the stolen bayonets returned after so much time was fantastic.

“It’s amazing to have it back, this is a great piece of Albany’s history and we would encourage anyone who knows the whereabouts of the second stolen bayonet to please come forward,” Mr Theodore said.

“We also recently discovered four diggers were missing from the Avenue of Honour on Mount Clarence following it’s relocation from Middleton Road, so it seems 2018 was the year to rectify wrongs.”

Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum will display the bayonet in the Barracks building throughout the December and January school holidays.