Dress : Squadron Leader R R Blackstock, United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF II)

Long sleeved floor length, round necked printed rayon dress with a floral design showing small blue and white flowers and green leaves on a dark blue ground. The waist is shaped by a broad band of shirring; the wrists by a narrower band, which creates a ruffled edge at the end of each sleeve. The bottom of the skirt has a wide 245mm ruffle. The dress fastens down the back with a zipper.

Worn by Squadron Leader Rita Rosalind Blackstock, United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF II) during the evacuation of Australian diplomatic staff from Tehran, January 1979.

Rita Rosalind Blackstock was born at Condobolin, New South Wales in 1929. During the Vietnam War she served as a Section Officer with No. 4 RAAF Hospital at Butterworth, Malaya from March 1966 until March 1967.

In 1978 she was posted to the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF II) in the Sinai with the primary responsibility of assessing the nursing care being received by the Australian contingent. Before her departure, Blackstock was briefed about her inclusion in a possible secondary mission to evacuate Australian civilians from Tehran.

Opposition to the government of Shah Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi had been growing from about October 1977, and through 1978 escalated into widespread demonstrations and rioting in major cities throughout Iran. The Australian government decided to evacuate diplomatic staff, their families and other Australian civilians residing in Iran.

A C-130E Hercules of 37 Squadron RAAF, based at Richmond, New South Wales arrived at Bahrain on the evening of 3 January 1979 with Squadron Leader Blackstock on board. The aircraft departed for Tehran on 5 January. Out of deference to local custom, Blackstock did not wear service uniform, but instead wore this full length dress, covered her hair with a mantilla, and wore no make-up.

The aircraft landed at Tehran, and after several hours of negotiation with Iranian officials, departed for Bahrain with 29 Australian civilians. A week after this evacuation, the Shah and his wife were forced into exile, the event which eventually saw the emergence of the Islamic Republic of Iran under the Ayatollah Khomeini.