Merchant Navy officers cap badge : A E R Fox

Merchant navy officer's gold bullion embroidered cap badge showing a silver anchor on a red velvet oval within a gold laurel wreath surmounted by a naval crown.

Associated with Lieutenant Commander Albert Edward Reginald 'Reg' Fox, Special Branch officer with the Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RANVR) during the Second World War.

Fox was born at Portsmouth, England, in 1910. He is thought to have been a wireless officer in the Merchant Navy, when he wore this cap badge. In 1932 he joined the Royal Australian Naval Reserve (RANR) with whom he undertook short annual training courses. He was a sub-lieutenant when he retired from the RANR in June 1938.

Fox joined the RANVR in Sydney on 10 January 1942 as the RAN could not find a way of reinstating him to the RANR. He was allocated to Special Branch, specialising in signals and communications. In July 1943 he was posted as a lieutenant to HMAS Basilisk, the navy's shore base at Port Moresby in New Guinea, which was responsible for training naval beach commandos. In October of the same year Fox was transferred to HMAS Ladava, the shore base at Milne Bay. From April 1944 until his discharge from full-time service, on 19 February 1946, he was posted to Navy Office in Melbourne.

Fox remained a member of the RANVR. In June 1950 his previous acting rank of lieutenant commander, dating from September 1945, was confirmed. He was awarded the Volunteer Reserve Officer's Decoration in June 1951.