Sign from Tel el Eisa railway station : 9 Australian Division

Buff painted steel panel sign with the name 'TEL EL EISA' painted upon it in both Roman and Arabic characters. The lettering is in black, as is the border to the sign. A small maker's marking reading 'FYFFE SIGNS' is present on the lower right hand corner. The name 'SX681 AJ TODD' is scratched into the paint in the lower left corner. The border of the sign has a large number of attachment holes, and two rows of similar holes run vertically through it, dividing the surface roughly into thirds.

This sign was a well known landmark to troops engaged in the bitter fighting around Tel el Eisa, (Arabic for Hill of Jesus) north east of El Alamein. Originally located near a small railway station captured by 2/48 Battalion on the morning of 10 July 1942, the sign was later removed by Lieutenant Colonel A R Allen, a commissioner of the Australian Comforts Fund. SX681Driver Andrew James Todd, Australian Army Service Corps, 9 Division, of Kangarilla, South Australia, has scratched his name and service number into the sign. A photograph of the sign in situ is held in the Australian War Memorial collection as 013347.