BONE PEN KNIFE WITH SILVER PINS

Engraved on one side - BOEREN KAMP - DIYATALAWA - CEYLON 1901, decorative edges, in very good condition.

83 mm closed and 143 mm open.

Diyatalawa (sometimes called Happy Valley), was the largest of the five prisoner-of-war camps established in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). To earn more pocket money to supplement their diet or to buy tobacco, or simply to relieve their boredom, the prisoners turned to making curios, carving toys an many different kinds of artifacts. As tools were scarce the pocket knives of the POW\'s became the most commonly used tool. For material they used wood, bone, ivory, stone, horn and textiles. (Oosthuizen (Pieter) Boer War Memorabilia (1987).