3 Telecommunication Unit Association
UNIT CREST
The initial design for an official Unit crest was a painting by LAC Len Robinson, depicting two Aborigines with spears watching smoke signals in the distance. This and the eventual design depicting three smoke rings superimposed over a map of Australia, were submitted to RAAFHQ for approval in the early 1950s.
The initial design depicting the Aborigines watching smoke signals was rejected as ‘too closely reflecting the Unit’s function’. This resulted in the smoke rings superimposed over a map of Australia being chosen, along with the motto – ‘Djinnang’.
The final design was duly submitted and received Royal approval in June 1953.
The requirement for a motto was for an Aboriginal word meaning ‘Always Vigilant’. Aborigines in the Beverly district of Western Australia, in 1957, gave the meaning of ‘Djinnang’ as ‘Watchful in case someone (or thing) might come’. A dictionary of Western Australian Aboriginal languages gives the meaning as ‘To see or perceive’.
Editor’s Notes: The above is from the 1991 publication ZKJ2
LAC L Robinson was Operator No 325
3 Telecommunication Unit Association (Inc)
Where it all began ...
During the latter years of 3TU's operation, from about the mid 1960s, social organisation was an ad hoc affair. The various shifts conducted lottery syndicates and these tended to spawn interest in activities of wider application. Volleyball matches, barbecues and even a few fishing trips were arranged by individuals before the Djinnang Social Club came into being. That arrangement prevailed throughout the final years of operation. When the unit closed in 1991 the former members of 3TU who lived in Perth continued to meet socially on a sporadic basis and eventually formed the Djinnang Association in about 1992.
This newly identified body held its AGM at an annual picnic/barbecue on ANZAC Day, usually at Whiteman Park. At the AGM in 1995 it was proposed that the Association should commission a parade banner and march as a unit contingent on ANZAC Day. The motion was passed and a banner design presented by John Stewart was accepted. The banner was then expertly created by Bede Mecham and it was paraded for the first time in 1996. About that time, a group of ex-3TU personnel in Queensland formed the Djinnang Association Queensland and opened its membership to all former RAAF communication musterings. This did not rest well with the WA group because the original Djinnang Association was formed only of personnel who had served at 3TU. A Special General Meeting was held in October 1996 at the 3TU site, where a motion to change the name of the Association was passed. Hence the present name was born but it was not until December 2017 that the Association became an incorporated body. The banner remains unaltered and still bears the original Djinnang Association identification.
COMMANDING OFFICERS
FOSTER QJ Nov 1946 - May 1948
WALKER RG May 1948 - Sep 1951
BARNES GH Sep 1951 - Mar 1953
BEURLE CE Mar 1953-Nov 1954
FAINT WT Nov 1954-Mar 1957
ROBB JA Mar 1957-Mar 1959
LAMB CJ Mar 1959-Nov 1961
TYLER HW Feb 1962-Mar 1965
STANFIELD JW Mar 1965-Dec 1968
RYAN BJ Dec 1968-Jan 1971
BELL RN Jan 1971-Jan 1973
COLEMAN PR Jan 1973-Jan 1975
BRANDLI RF Jan 1975-Jan 1976
NOBLE JM Jan 1976-Dec 1978
SILCOCK PR Dec 1978-Oct 1980
ASPINAL JB Dec 1980-Jan 1983
DOUGLAS TC Jan 1983-Jan 1986
SMEDLEY DB Jan 1986-Nov 1988
BARTLETT G Dec 1988-Mar 1992
3TU Mascots - Bindi and Beep Beep
3TU Closure
R 010002Z DEC 91
UNCLAS
FM 3TU
TO THE REST OF THE SIGNALS COMMUNITY
CO/236
3TU - CESSATION OF OPERATIONS
1. 3TU CEASED ALL SIGNALS OPERATIONS AT 010001Z DEC 91. THIS MARKS THE END OF A CHAPTER IN RAAF SIGNALS HISTORY WHICH BEGAN IN OCTOBER 1945.WHEN THE AIR BOARD ISSUED ORGANISATION MEMORANDUM 1081 AUTHORISING THE FORMATION OF 3TU AT RAAF PEARCE.
2. IN THE ENSUING 45 YEARS THERE HAS BEEN TWO CONSISTENT AND DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF 3TU’S CHARACTER. THE FIRST IS THE AFFECTION WITH WHICH THE UNIT HAS BEEN HELD BY THREE GENERATIONS OF RAAF SIGNALS PERSONNEL. SINCE IT BEGAN, 3TU HAS EMBRACED AND NURTURED IT’S YOUNG OPERATORS WITH GENUINE WARMTH AND CONCERN. FOR YEARS FLEDGLING OPERATORS LEARNED THEIR TRADE AT 3TU AND THEY LEARNED IT WELL. WHEN THEY WERE READY THEY WOULD GO OUT AND SERVE AT SINGLE SERVICE AND CIVILIAN AGENCIES IN AUSTRALIA AND OVERSEAS. INVARIABLY THESE SAME PERSONNEL RETURNED TO 3TU LATER IN THEIR CAREERS, AND 3TU WELCOMED THEM. IT IS NOT DIFFICULT TO SEE WHY MANY HAVE COME TO SEE 3TU AS AN EXTENDED FAMILY, OR WHY RAAF OPERATORS REGARD 3TU AS THEIR PROFESSIONAL HOME.
3. THE SECOND ENDURING FEATURE OF 3TU’S CHARACTER HAS BEEN IT’S ATTITUDE TO EXCELLENCE AND ACHIEVEMENT. OVER THE PAST 45 YEARS 3TU HAS WITNESSED THE RELENTLESS ADVANCE OF COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY IN THE REGION AND THE WORLD. 3TU HAS ALWAYS ENDEAVOURED TO DO MORE THAN MERELY KEEP PACE WITH THESE DEVELOPMENTS; WE HAVE ENDEAVOURED TO STAY AT LEAST ONE STEP AHEAD. MANY INDIVIDUALS IN DOS AND DSD HAVE WORKED HARD TO HELP 3TU IN IT’S EFFORTS, AND WE THANK YOU FOR THIS. BECAUSE IT HAS TRIED TO EXCEL, 3TU HAS TRADITIONALLY ACCEPTED CHANGE AS A NATURAL AND INDISPENSIBLE PART OF THE CONTINUING BATTLE TO MAINTAIN THE ADVANTAGE OVER OUR COMPETITION.
4. TO LOSE 3TU IN THE NAME OF PROGRESS THEREFORE EVOKES MIXED EMOTIONS. MANY SENIOR OPERATORS ARE NATURALLY DISAPPOINTED AT THE UNIT’S DEMISE; THEY HAVE LOST A PART OF THEIR PROFESSIONAL HERITAGE. AT THE SAME TIME, THE PROFESSIONALISM RAAF OPERATORS HAVE BEEN TAUGHT AT 3TU DEMANDS THAT OPPORTUNITES TO ADVANCE MUST BE SEIZED AND SEIZED VIGOUROUSLY. I AM CONFIDENT THAT 3TU MEMBERS WILL CARRY THIS SPIRIT WITH THEM TO THEIR NEW UNITS, ESPECIALLY THE JOPC. I BELIEVE THAT ALTHOUGH 3TU WILL SOON BE A MEMORY, THE HEIRS OF THE 3TU TRADITION WILL WORK WITH DEDICATION AND LOYALTY TO FORGE A NEW SIGNALS ORDER IN AUSTRALIA.
5. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO ESPECIALLY THANK THE MANY 3TU PERSONNEL WHO HAVE NOT BEEN DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN THE OPERATIONAL WORKINGS Of THE UNIT, BUT WHO BY THEIR EFFORTS HAVE ENABLED THE UNIT TO ACHIEVE ITS TASKS OVER THE YEARS.
6. ONE FINAL THOUGHT:
O! WOULD KIND HEAV'N REVERSE MY FATE,
GIVE ME TO QUIT A LIFE I HATE,
TO FLOW'RY FIELDS I SOON WOULD FLY:
LET OTHERS STAY -TO CHEAT AND LYE
3TU Posting and Detachments
​Hong Kong - Little Sai Wan
The RAAFs and probably the ADFs longest serving overseas Unit, known by various names, starting with No1 (B) Squadron Detachment A (No 1 Bomber Squadron was in Singapore at the time), then changed to BSBUT Det A (Base Squadron Butterworth Detachment A), and in 1976 RAAF Unit Hong Kong, was formed in September 1949 and finally disbanded in January 1985 some 35 years later.
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Japan
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Singapore
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Lubuan
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Ubon
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Vietnam