Speeches
Tuesday, 04 November 2025
Reception for Royal Australian Army Corps of Signal Centenary
Rod and I warmly welcome you to Government House for this celebration of the centenary of the Royal Australian Corps of Signals.
We are pleased to welcome members of the Corps and the 144th Signal Squadron.
South Australia has proudly hosted the Squadron, a unit of the Corps since its formation in 1966, first at Beulah Park and since the 1990s at Keswick.
The Squadron has served in many conflicts including Afghanistan and Iraq. Your presence in communities during natural disasters such as the Kangaroo Island and Adelaide Hills bushfires, and the Riverland and Lismore floods, has brought strength and reassurance.
Thank you for your contribution to keeping our state and nation safe through your support of the 9th Brigade and the wider Australian Defence Force.
Later, we will recognise two Squadron members: one being promoted and one retiring. Congratulations to each of you and thank you for your service.
As Governor, I have been pleased to visit the Keswick Barracks to observe your skill and dedication to your work and I have a personal interest in it.
I still have my father’s Record of Service card which records his completion of national service and military training in Adelaide in two separate signals organisations which were antecedents of the Signal Squadron.
We recognise that technology has changed the role significantly.
Morse code, lamps, flags and pigeons have given way to high frequency radio, satellite, and mobile networks.
Signallers today operate in digital and physical battlefields, with cyber and space now key domains alongside land, sea and air.
But the mission and the motto of the Royal Australian Army Corps of Signals are the same as they were in 1925 when it was founded:
Certa Cito – Swift and Sure …. communication delivered with maximum speed and certainty because lives depend on it.
Built on the foundation of the first regularly formed signal units in the British Empire, the Corps has delivered communication essential to decision-making in every conflict involving Australian troops – including World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East.
In recognition of this distinguished service, the ‘Royal’ title was conferred on the Corps by His Majesty King George VI in 1948.
Over a century of the Corps, its signallers have earned a reputation for innovation and courage.
South Australia’s own Captain Lionel Matthews from Stepney, who built a wireless transmitter as a prisoner of war in World War II, exemplifies this spirit.
As do the ‘Garage Girls’, who intercepted and decoded enemy communications from a Queensland garage, and were among the 3,600 women members of the Corps in World War II.
That same ingenuity drives the Corps today as it seeks to protect our communications, networks and data in an increasingly complex world.
Friends,
As we commemorate this centenary, we honour all who have served, remember those who have fallen, and acknowledge the families whose support has made this service possible.
Congratulations and thank you to the members of 144th Signal Squadron and the Royal Australian Corps of Signals.
Australians can feel confident knowing you are using all your technological and strategic skills to keep us safe.