Australian Army Ordnance Corps, 1 Australian Corps colour patch : Warrant Officer R T Turrell, 7 Division, AIF

Colour patch of the the Australian Army Ordnance Corps (AAOC), 1st Australian Corps featuring a blue square on grey background, with a red square in the centre.

This type of patch was worn between 1939 and 1943 by members of the Australian Army Ordnance Corps (AAOC) overseas. In 1943 the shape was changed to a triangle for members of the AAOC serving in Australia and the South West Pacific Area. This patch may have been collected by R T Turrell, while serving in the Middle East.

NX16053 Warrant Officer Class I Raymond Thomas Turrell was born at Kalgoorlie Western Australia on 19 January 1912. Turrell enlisted into the Second AIF at Paddington NSW on the 21 May 1940. He was allocated to the 2/6 Training Regiment, 7 Division, and a month later was appointed lance bombardier.

Turrell embarked with the 7th Division on the Queen Mary for the Middle East on 14 November 1940, arriving on 18 December. While serving in the Middle East, he was promoted to acting sergeant, then soon after, to acting warrant officer II on 22 April 1941. Turrell left the Middle East and served in New Guinea from 29 December 1942 until January 1943. In February 1943, he was diagnosed with Malaria.

Turrell later returned to Australia where he was transferred to 7 Division Headquarters, and taken on strength of 2/6 Australian Field Regiment. He was promoted to warrant officer class I, with the rank confirmed on 11 August 1943.

Turrell returned to New Guinea with the 2/6 Field Regiment, on 26 July, where he worked to identify where the Japanese targets were located on the Kokoda Trail. Due to reoccurring bouts of Malaria during his service, Turrell was discharged as medically unfit from the 2/6 Field Regiment on the 13 May 1945.