Soon-to-be decommissioned, HMAS Newcastle – deployed as part of Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2019 – is home to one of the Royal Australian Navy’s innovation hubs. The deployable innovation workshop (DIW), which sounds as if it should be in Silicon Valley rather than a warship, is led by Leading Seaman Marine Technician Sarah Battenally. “The centre came out of […]
2019
Citations for Viet Nam vets
ANZAC Day this year, saw a select group of veterans marching with shiny new awards for the first time; some dating back fifty-two years The extraordinary gallantry displayed by members of both the RAN Helicopter Flight Vietnam in South Vietnam from October 1967 to June 1971, and members of the 1st Australian Task Force (Forward) […]
First family visit since 1915
Royal Australian Navy Able Seaman Amanda May is the first military member in her family to return to Gallipoli since her great-grandfather fought there more than a century before. As soon as her proud parents, Darren and Trisha May, heard their daughter had been selected for ceremonial duties with Australia’s Federation Guard at the Anzac […]
Piper plays tribute
Leading Aircraftman Robert Scott has paid tribute to an ancestor who died at Gallipoli the only way he knows how: by playing his bagpipes. Leading Aircraftman Scott will be the piper for the Anzac Day commemorative services held on April 24 and 25 in Turkey. “I played the pipes because it just felt like something […]
ANZAC: Middle East
Anzac Day was commemorated throughout the Middle East with a number of dawn services across theatre. Australian and New Zealand personnel stood side by side with counterparts from Turkey and coalition forces to remember the fallen in all wars and conflicts. “I see in your eyes that same commitment, that same passion and desire to […]
Solemn promise at Gallipoli
The Chief of the Defence Force, General Angus Campbell delivered this year’s commemorative address at the Anzac Day dawn service at the Anzac Cove Commemorative Site on the Gallipoli peninsula, Turkey. General Campbell stood at the landing site of the original Australian soldiers on that morning over a century before. He said it was the […]
Didgeridoo to feature
A Warlpiri man in the Royal Australian Air Force will play the didgeridoo at the Anzac Day commemorative services along the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey. Leading Aircraftman Brodie McIntyre grew up in Cairns, Queensland, but his people are Warlpiri, of the Jumpajinpa and Jangala skin group, from Tennant Creek, Northern Territory. Leading Aircraftman McIntyre will […]
For the fallen
With ANZAC Day looming, time to reflect on a key piece of every dawn and ANZAC service with a little history. Moved by the opening of what was then called the Great War and the already high number of casualties of the British Expeditionary Force, in 1914 Laurence Binyon wrote his poem “For the Fallen”, […]
Latest challenge coins
We’re privileged to help the Wally Thompson OAM Club at Kapooka recognise their members, through the use of a new custom-designed challenge coin. These are the latest coins we’ve made, and we’re pretty happy that the Wally Thompson OAM Club is also pretty happy. “Apologies for the delayed response, we are extremely happy with the […]
Recon mission update
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has positively identified a World War Two Catalina aircraft A24-64 following a successful reconnaissance mission in the Philippines. In March 2019, RAAF conducted an inspection of a crash site south-east of Cape Calavite on the north-west end of Mindoro Island, after they became aware of several artefacts at this […]
