The 7th Signal Regiment is an

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ( ...

(SIGINT) unit. Drawing lineage from the Australian Special Wireless Group (ASWG), which was raised during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the regiment's history includes service in the Allied campaigns in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, on

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

and in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

before taking part in the fighting against the Japanese in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

. After the war, the ASWG was redesignated the 101 Wireless Regiment, deploying detachments overseas during the

Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...

and

Confrontation Confrontation is an element of conflict wherein parties confront one another, directly engaging one another in the course of a dispute between them. A confrontation can be at any scale, between any number of people, between entire nations or cult ...

. In the mid-1960s, the unit became the 7th Signals Regiment, taking part in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. The unit is currently part of the 6th Brigade.

History

World War II

The regiment traces its lineage back to a unit that was raised as part of the

Second Australian Imperial Force The Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF, or Second AIF) was the name given to the volunteer expeditionary force of the Australian Army in the Second World War. It was formed following the declaration of war on Nazi Germany, with an initial ...

(2nd AIF) during

. The Australian Special Wireless Group (ASWG) was formed as signals intelligence group on 18 May 1942 at Bonegilla, Victoria. With a war establishment of 1,000 personnel, the ASWG was raised out of a smaller unit, No. 4 Australian Special Wireless Section, which had been raised at

Seymour, Victoria Seymour () is a historic railway township located in the Southern end of the Goulburn Valley in the Shire of Mitchell, Victoria, Australia and is located north of Melbourne. At the , Seymour had a population of 6,569. The township services t ...

, in 1940 and had served in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, and

, before being withdrawn back to Australia after Japan's entry into the war. From August 1942, females were also recruited into the ASWG. Personnel undertook four months of training, before being formed into

sections Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

and deployed to various locations in remote parts of Australia or in

. The ASWG was headquartered at

Kalinga Kalinga may refer to: Geography, linguistics and/or ethnology * Kalinga (historical region), a historical region of India ** Kalinga (Mahabharata), an apocryphal kingdom mentioned in classical Indian literature ** Kalinga script, an ancient writin ...

, in Brisbane during the war and eventually 11 field sections were raised in total. By the end of the war, the ASWG had around 4,300 personnel. Parts of the group were later absorbed into the

Central Bureau The Central Bureau was one of two Allied signals intelligence (SIGINT) organisations in the South West Pacific area (SWPA) during World War II. Central Bureau was attached to the headquarters of the Allied Commander of the South West Pacific area ...

Post 1945

After the conclusion of hostilities, the ASWG was relocated to

Cabarlah, Queensland Cabarlah is a rural town and locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Cabarlah had a population of 1,075 people. Geography Cabarlah is approximately north of the Toowoomba city centre and has an area o ...

, north of

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 C ...

. In February 1947, it was redesignated the "101 Wireless Regiment", with an authorised strength of two officers and 22 other ranks. Over the next two years, the regiment was expanded and between 1951 and 1959, the regiment deployed a detachment to Malaya in support of Commonwealth forces deployed during the

. During the early 1960s, the regiment deployed to Borneo during

, intercepting and decoding Indonesian communications. A further name change came in December 1964, when it became the 7th Signal Regiment, subsequently deploying a

troop A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troop Ro ...

– 547 Troop – as part of Australia's contribution to the Vietnam War. The unit continues to exist within the Australian Army today as part of the 6th Brigade, providing an

electronic warfare Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...

capability. From the 1990s, the regiment provided support for Australian Army deployments to

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

Multinational Force A Multinational force is a multinational operation which may be defensive, offensive, or for peacekeeping purposes. In multinational operations, many countries form an alliance to carry them out. Multinational forces include: * Supreme Headquart ...

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...

, Bougainville,

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. It is currently based at Borneo Barracks, at Cabarlah and has an establishment of around 250 personnel. The majority of its personnel are members of the

Royal Australian Corps of Signals The Royal Australian Corps of Signals (RASigs) is one of the 'arms' (combat support corps) of the Australian Army. It is responsible for installing, maintaining, and operating all types of telecommunications equipment and information systems. The m ...

. In June 1995, then Governor-General Bill Hayden was the Reviewing Officer for the regiment's 48th birthday parade held at Borneo Barracks, Cabarlah. As of 2016, the 7th Signal Regiment comprised the following sub-units: *71st Squadron *72nd Squadron *73rd Squadron *138th Squadron *Operations Support Squadron

History

World War II

Post 1945

See also

References

Further reading