WW2 St Mary’s Munitions Hostel (N.S.W) fund raising badge.

St Mary’s Munitions Hostel was a WWII-era accommodation facility in St Marys, New South Wales, Australia, linked to the massive St Marys Munitions Factory established in 1942. It housed munitions workers—many of them women—who filled cartridges, mortar bombs, shells, and pyrotechnics at the facility west of Sydney.
Badge Details
This celluloid fundraising badge depicts Union Jacks flanking an arched doorway with a figure inside, typical of patriotic “badge day” appeals sold to support hostels and war workers. A 1943 newspaper note confirms a Sydney “badge day” event on June 18 for the hostel, organized with Lord Mayor approval.
Historical Context
The factory was Australia’s largest surviving WWII munitions site, later partly repurposed as a migrant hostel. Badges like this raised funds for worker welfare amid rapid wartime expansion, similar to other Australian “On War Service” pins for munitions staff.