 Born in Benalla , Victoria , Waller entered the Royal Australian Naval College at the age of thirteen . After graduating , he served with the Royal Navy ( RN ) in the closing stages of World War I. Between the wars , he specialised in communications and was posted as signals officer to various British and Australian warships . He gained his first seagoing command in 1937 , as captain of HMS Brazen . In September 1939 , he took charge of HMAS Stuart and four other obsolete destroyers that together became known as the " Scrap Iron Flotilla " . In 1940 , these were augmented by other ships to form the 10th Destroyer Flotilla , supporting Allied troops in North Africa . 
