Area Signals Company, Western Command Signals

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Brief History

Area Signals Company, Western Command Signals was mobilised at Beaufort Street in Perth in December 1941. The Army reorganisation in April 1942 and the arrival of other signals units meant that by May the unit had expanded to become Area Signals, Western Australian Line of Communication which moved to Leederville in August with detachments from Exmouth to Halls Creek. Reorganised again in June 1943 they became the 15th Line of Communication Signals. In August NT Force took over responsibility for the Kimberley and personnel returned from Halls Creek.

With the decreased number of troops in WA, in Oct 1943 changes resulted in the unit at Leederville becoming 3 Company, 15th Lines of Communication Signals to service base units. 16th and 17th Telegraph Operating Sections moved to Leederville as did the 46th and 47th Wireless/Telegraph Sections with the 28th Despatch Rider Section and as a result of increasing numbers of AWAS personnel, the 70th and 80th Switchboard Operating Sections were formed in early 1944. A further reorganisation in November 1944 saw the unit renamed to 2nd Company, Lines of Communication Signals responsible for all operating and despatch rider sections. By the end of the war the unit had been reduced to just the 7th Operating Section and the 79th Switchboard Operating Section.

Unit Personnel

• Richard Phillipson 12 Dec 1941 - 3 Jun 1943

Notes

Content has come from The Unit Guide - Volume 4 - The Australian Army 1939-1945, pages 4.394 & 4.295 - Graham R McKenzie-Smith - Big Sky Publishing - 2018