The 3rd Australian Corp was responsible for the defence of Western Australia in 1942-1944. They were formed in April 1942 from Western Command which itself was formed in October 1939 and was based at the Swan Barracks in Francis St, Perth, the building that is now heritage listed and sits between the Museum and Beaufort St. So, in April 1942, the 3rd Australian Corps’ headquarters were established at Perth College (PC), Mt Lawley, with Lieutenant Gordon Bennet appointed Corps Commander (see his office shown in the map, marked*). In August 1942, the 2nd Division from NSW joined the 3rd Australian Corps although they had their headquarters in Guildford, joining the Victorian 4th Division which had arrived in WA in March 1942.  

Below are excerpts from memoirs of WF45679 Signalwoman Joy See (later Mrs Joy Tufnell), a copy of which is held in the Mt Lawley Society archive:  

The 46 Heavy Wireless Section of the Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) Signals was also based at PC from July to November 1943. Despite there being twelve girls still at the school, half of the Hvy W/T section was transferred from Kalamunda Wireless Station to the newly created Dug-Out at PC (see map, marked **). The Dug-Out was a unique place, an after-thought hole in the ground in the backyard of Perth College, measuring 8ft square by 6ft high and the walls were sand-bagged to keep the earth in place. It had a tent top with camouflaged tent-fly stretched above it. The entrance pathway was down a gradual decline with sandbags on either side and, although the door was made of sturdy wood, the rain did penetrate beneath on occasions. It was cold and miserable for the first 2-3 months with only a small kerosene heater for warmth. The Wireless Receivers were installed so the signal women could tune in themselves, while the transmitters remained in Kalamunda and were operated by the other half of the Section known as “Remote Control”.

 The signal women at PC worked three 8 hour shifts per day, 7 days per week, operating only two Wireless links – 8LL to Pippingarra in the north of WA, and Fortress Signals at Albany and Rottnest. When stationed at the Dug-Out, signals women were allowed to live at home but the two groups alternated on a monthly basis. They certainly took advantage of being in the city every second month, attending dances, the pictures and catching up with Civvy friends. The system worked well but they were noticeably busier than previously. 3rd Australia Corps Signals office men were running back and forth from their “cosy” warm office in the main College building with bundles of coded messages to be sent out, and they collected the incoming messages from the signals women. MUCH LATER, we were to discover that over 50% of those messages were DUMMY! The heavy volume of traffic on the airwaves with falsely coded messages was supposedly to confuse the Japanese. As the situation of the War changed, by November 1943, the signals women were moved again. The old Dug-Out was used for wireless monitoring and interception.