7th Signal Regiment (Australia)

7th Signal Regiment
Troops of the Australian Special Wireless Group marching through their camp at Kalinga, Queensland, in July 1945.
Active	1940–present
Country	Australia
Branch	Australian Army
Type	Signals intelligence
Size	~ 250 personnel
Part of	6th Brigade, Forces Command
Garrison/HQ	Cabarlah, Queensland
Engagements	World War II Malayan Emergency Confrontation Vietnam War Rwanda Sinai Somalia Iraq Afghanistan

The 7th Signal Regiment is an Australian Army signals intelligence (SIGINT) unit. Drawing lineage from the Australian Special Wireless Group (ASWG), which was raised during World War II, the regiment's history includes service in the Allied campaigns in Greece, on Crete and in Syria before taking part in the fighting against the Japanese in New Guinea. After the war, the ASWG was redesignated the 101 Wireless Regiment, deploying detachments overseas during the Malayan Emergency and Confrontation. In the mid-1960s, the unit became the 7th Signals Regiment, taking part in the Vietnam War. The unit is currently part of the 6th Brigade.

The regiment traces its lineage back to a unit that was raised as part of the Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF) during World War II. 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which had been raised at Seymour, Victoria, in 1940 and had served in Egypt, Greece, Crete, and Syria, before being withdrawn back to Australia after Japan's entry into the war.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 and deployed to various locations in remote parts of Australia or in New Guinea. The ASWG was headquartered at Kalinga, 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.