Made by his Hands
Antonio Arici was sent to Mukinbudin WA to work on the farm of Norman Maddock.
A wooden box made by Antonio was too heavy for him to take home to Italy. Or maybe he left it behind because the POWs had been issued instructions as to how much luggage they could take with them. It is still lined with remnants of magazine pictures he decorated the inside of the box with.
It has been kept in the Maddock family for over seven decades. Bert Maddock who was a teenager at the time assumes that it was made from demolition timber sort from unoccupied houses in the area. These houses were purchased by his father, dismantled and the timber used to construct a new home for the Maddock family.
Made from Jarrah timber, the tongue and groove sections used by Antonio would have been walls of the derelict houses and possibly there were sections not used to build the new house.
Read more about the Maddock and Arici families: Antonio’s journey
Footprints of Italian Prisoners of War in Australia 
Anche mio padre portò dall’Australia tre di queste valigie in legno, una simile a questa della foto che con gli anni è andata distrutta, una un pò più piccola prestata ad una signora e mai restituita e una ancora più piccola che possiedo io.
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Thank you Luigi for sharing the story of your father’s boxes. I continue to be amazed by the diverstiy of artefacts, the Italians took home with them from Australia. These items are historical treasures.
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