Wool neck tie : Signalman R E Hill, Royal Australian Signal Corps

Light khaki wool blend neck tie, woven without shaping in a single width, with short fringed ends, for wear with service dress tunic.

Standard issue Australian army tie issued to 2786678 Signalman Russell Errol Hill for his National Service. Born 17 July 1946, Hill was called up in 1967 and entered the Army on 14 April. After initial 10 weeks basic training at Kapooka, Hill undertook specific training at the School of Signals, Balcombe, Victoria; his suitablility for training was chosen based on a tone/pitch test and Hill’s natural musical ability assisted in passing this test. He passed top of his course of an entry of 20 and was judged the quickest Morse operator. Of the 20 in his course, seventeen were posted to Vietnam, while Hill and two others were retained in Australia. After a short period at Watsonia, Hill was transferred to the Rockbank Signal Receiving Station (about 60 km west of Melbourne), where he was responsible for receiving the coded incoming message from Vung Tau every 4 hours. His final post was operating the Base Radio at Portsea, Victoria.