German military in WWI were issued with a clothing flail that was to beat the dust from clothes. German military handbooks show diagrams of 2 soldiers holding clothing and beating it - much like beating a rug. This example is similar to a known surviving historical one.
The flail has the name 'R. Frueckthickt' and initials 'K.M.' carved in handle. It is part of a collection of material relating to the German WWI raider SMS EMDEN and some 70 crew members who were taken prisoner and interned at the German Concentration Camp, at Holsworthy near Liverpool, NSW, during the war.
Richard Frueckthickt was prisoner number 22 at Liverpool.