Rifle cleaning kit with waxed paper wrapping : Lieutenant M T Turrell, 2 Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment

Rifle cleaning kit contained in a rectangular green metal tin, with waxed paper wrapping. The tin has a hinged lid. The body of the tin has three compartments, in which is stowed a plastic oil bottle wrapped in waxed paper, a pull through with a separate waxed weight, a rolled length of cleaning flannel. Soldered to the inside of the lid is a small metal frame that secures two metal mesh pieces and includes a bull-nosed holder under which is stowed a long-haired brush.

Associated with the service of Lieutenant M T Turrell, 2 Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (RAR). Born in Sydney on 19 January 1938, Maxwell Thomas Turrell was educated at Crows Nest Intermediate Boys High School and North Sydney Boys Technical High School. At both schools he served in the School Cadets, attaining the rank of cadet lieutenant. Turrell enlisted in the Australian Army in 1956, graduating from the Royal Military College, Duntroon.

In 1961, in the wake of the Malayan Emergency, Lieutenant Turrell served in Malaya with 2 Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (RAR). Operating as part the 28th Commonwealth Brigade, Turrell commanded 11 Platoon, D Company, 2 RAR in conducting patrols the 'Black Zone' on the Malay -Thailand border, aimed at suppressing continued Communist Terrorists (CT) activity in the region in 1962 and 1963. In May 1966 Captain Turrell was deployed to South Vietnam as adjutant of 6 RAR. Following his service in the Vietnam War, Turrell was promoted to Major and appointed Officer Commanding 2nd Army Recruiting Unit. Major Turrell served in the Army until his discharge in 1981.