Swimmers : Stoker W R R Burnett, HMAS Australia

Blue cotton drill swimming briefs. A small cotton tag has been sewn inside the back left of the swimmers marked 'JENYNS PTY BRISBANE-1941 Size: 2'. The briefs are split on the left hip. A white cotton tape runs through the waist to the opening at the left hip, and another set of tapes is sewn onto the bottom edge of each side of the opening. The back is marked on the outside 'W.R.R.BURNETT' in white.

Associated with S/6811 Stoker Walter Robert Reginald Burnett RAN. He enlisted on 27 July 1942 and was posted to HMAS Cerberus for training. He subsequently posted to HMAS Platypus (1943-1944) and the cruiser HMAS Australia II (1944-1946).

These swimmers appear never to have been used and were probably issued to Burnett during his initial training at HMAS Cerberus. The pattern, in use from at least the early 1930s, was widely considered to be impractical and the swimmers were reputed always to fall off, no matter how tightly they were tied, upon diving into the water.