Army Issue Jungle hammock : Warrant Officer Class 1 R T Turrell, 2/6 Field Regiment, AIF

Army issue hammock (officially known as a 'Hammock, Jungle, Complete') with built in mosquito net and waterproof overhead fly sheet, with drawstring bag. The draw string bag has 'TURRELL R T / NX16053' stencilled in black ink with the embarkation code 61081. The hammock comprises an olive green cotton drill sheet with ten brass suspension eyelets at each end. One end has the makers label which reads 'B.Mfg.Co/ 60'. Lengths of cord looped through these eyelets are gathered at a ring, from which the entire structure is slung.

The sleeping section is enclosed around three sides by brown mosquito netting, with a vertical and horizontal zip entry on the left hand side. The foot section and the lower portions of the net areas are of a cotton drill fabric, waterproofed on the outside face. The same fabric is used for the fly, or roof, section which has cotton webbing loops at each corner, and at the centre of the edge seams. These loops enable the fly to be stretched and held taut, preventing water from gathering in folds. Attached to the underside of the hammock are a pair of cotton webbing loops with press-stud fastenings. These were intended to allow a rifle to be slung beneath the occupant, protecting it from rain.

This jungle hammock is associated with the service of NX16053 Warrant Officer Class I Raymond Thomas Turrell. Turrell was born at Kalgoorlie Western Australia on 19 January 1912. Turrell enlisted into the Second AIF at Paddington NSW on the 21 May 1940. He was allocated to the 2/6 Training Regiment, 7 Division, and a month later was appointed lance bombardier.

Turrell embarked with the 7th Division on the Queen Mary for the Middle East on 14 November 1940, arriving on 18 December. While serving in the Middle East, he was promoted to acting sergeant, then soon after, to acting warrant officer II on 22 April 1941. Turrell left the Middle East and served in New Guinea from 29 December 1942 until January 1943. In February 1943, he was diagnosed with Malaria.

Turrell later returned to Australia where he was transferred to 7 Division Headquarters, and taken on strength of 2/6 Australian Field Regiment. He was promoted to warrant officer class I, with the rank confirmed on 11 August 1943.

Turrell returned to New Guinea with the 2/6 Field Regiment, on 26 July, where he worked to identify where the Japanese targets were located on the Kokoda Trail. Due to reoccurring bouts of Malaria during his service, Turrell was discharged as medically unfit from the 2/6 Field Regiment on the 13 May 1945.