Those who fought for our country, for our way of life deserve to be remembered. Regardless of how their ideals may have been betrayed by politicians. Support our veterans and service men and women. Not war. People get hurt in war.
ANZAC, Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, did not exist before Gallipoli. Gallipoli, planned and miss executed by Churchill. The way the men fought and died, for a lost cause, created the ANZAC legend.
Australians have volunteered and fought in many wars. As well as peace keeping and peace making operations.
Maori Wars 1860 - 1866 ( for England )
2500 served
20 died
Sudan 1885 ( for the Empire )
770 served
6 died
The Third Anglo-Burmese War 1885 - 1886 ( for the Empire )
1 served
Chitral 1895 ( for the Empire )
1 served
Boer War 1899 - 1902 ( for the Empire )
16,175 served
606 died
Boxer Rebellion 1900 - 1901 ( for the Empire )
556 served
6 died
WWI 1914 - 1918 ( for the Empire )
331,781 served
61,919 died
North Russia Relief Force 1919 ( for the Empire )
120 served
Native uprising in the British Solomon Islands 1927 ( for the Empire )
WWII 1939 - 1945 ( for the Empire )
557,799 served
39,366 died
Project Kingfisher a 1944 - 45 plan for Australian paratroops to rescue some 1,800 Australian prisoners of war held in Sandakan. It was planned and fully resourced by Australia except for the troop carrying aircraft. MacArthur refused to release the aircraft, despite the fact that aircraft were available and idle. Only one of the 1,800 or so Australian prisoners of war survived and returned home.
Korea 1950 - 1953 ( for the UN )
18,059 served
339 died
The first war that the Australian Regular Army fought in.
Operation Commando, the battle of Maryang San. 3 RAR dislodged an enemy, twice it's strength, from entrenched defensive positions, seized that ground and held it. 39 decorations were awarded for actions during this battle.
Malayan Emergency 1950 - 1960 ( for the Empire )
36 died
Vietnam 1962 - 1973 ( US request )
50,190 served
520 died
Long Tan. 11 platoon D company 6 RAR was ambushed by a company. It escalated and A, D and part of B companies 6 RAR forced the Viet Cong 275th Main Force Regiment plus and the D445 Local Force battalion to retreat. Some 230 members of 6 RAR defeated some 2,500 of the enemy, yes about 10:1. The Vietnamese left behind 245 bodies, total Australian casualties 18 dead and 24 wounded. Records later revealed the enemy lost 500 with 750 more wounded.
Indonesian Confrontation 1963 - 1966 ( for the Empire )
16 died
Fiji coup 1979
B Company 1 RAR was deployed aboard HMAS Success, HMAS Tobruk, HMAS Sydney & HMAS Parramatta off the Fijian shore.
The Gulf 1990 - 1991 ( US led )
959 served
RAN ships are still deployed in the Gulf.
1991 One SASR squadron ( 110 men ) joined some NZ SAS to form the ANZAC SAS Squadron in Kuwait for search & rescue.
Somalia 1992-1994 ( for the UN )
( Operation Solace 1993 ) 1 RAR, B Squadron 3rd/4th Cavalry Regiment, logistic support & HMAS Tobruk were deployed.
937 served
1 died
Rwanda 1994-1995 - ( Operation Tamar )( for the UN )
1998 110 members of 2nd SAS Squadron and NZ SAS were deployed to the Gulf for combat search & rescue - ( Operation Desert Thunder )
( ANZAC Special Operations Force detachment on Operation Pollard in Kuwait )
East Timor 1999 - ( Operation Citadel )( Australian initiative )
over 5570 served.
Aidabasalala. A 6 man SASR patrol was ambushed by more than 20 militiamen. The militia being beaten off with 3 killed and 3 wounded. No Australian casualties.
Afghanistan " The war against terror " 2001 - ( US led )
The SASR has been praised for the success of it's reconnaissances patrols.
US Major General Frank Hagenback, Commander of Coalition Task Force Mountain stated "You won't find a more professional group than the Australians that have served here with us"
Our contribution apparently ended in 2003, and restarted last year. However, I believe we have not stopped supporting operations there under Operation Slipper.
Invasion and occupation of Iraq 2003 ( Operation Bastille & Operation Catalyst )( US bullied )
some 2,600+
1 died
Australia had 1370 troops in Iraq ( 8-8-5 )
Howard's argument, at the time, for our involvement in this war is summarized thus:
1. Most terrorist organizations want weapons of mass destruction.
2. Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.
Therefore Iraq may supply weapons of mass destruction to terrorists in the future.
Therefore they must be disarmed. But they are not fully cooperating.
Therefore we must invade them.
Sorry, but this logic too tenuous. It's like revoking your driving licence now, because, even though you have never done it before, next year you might drive after drinking.
And weapons of mass destruction have not been found in Iraq. Despite the fact that Colin Powell pointed to air photographs of Iraq and said there were weapons of mass destruction in those specific places. The US has now admitted that there weren't any. And the reason for the invasion has been changed, it was now because of the way Sadam treated his people.
The US and UK do have weapons of mass destruction! Seems like a double standard to me. In fact the US has plans to produce 125 new nuclear bombs per year! http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/us-blueprint-for-125-nuclear-bombs-a-year/2006/04/06/1143916656000.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
Another 450 Australians have been deployed to Iraq to replace 1,400 troops from the Netherlands. Before our last election Howard said there would be no significant increase in our numbers there, this is an approximate 50% increase. Howard does admit that it is a broken election promise ( something like "there will never, ever be a GST" ). He said it was a hard decision, and I'm sure it was.
In an interview on this topic he stated that someone had to replace the troops leaving the area and he did not make the decision to send our troops until after he was asked by Japan and Britain. He also stated that the deployment is in Britain's area of responsibility, but they can't deploy more troops because there has to be a British election this year (2005). That's right our troops went so the British labour government had a better chance of being reelected! And this after he was reelected after promising no significant increase in the number of our troops in Iraq!
The US invaded Afghanistan to capture bin Laden, who they accuse of planning the ' September 11 ' hijackings. That's right, they invaded a whole country to capture one man after the Taliban refused or were unable to hand him over. But have so far been unsuccessful. And don't forget that the Taliban was the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
And the US has been critical of Israel's battle against terrorists.
Fiji coup 2006
Deployed off the Fijian shore.
An Australian is still being held, in conditions similar to a 1920s zoo, by the US, it is well over five years now. The US claim the prisoners are probably terrorists and therefore not prisoners of war. However under the Geneva Convention those held who are not considered prisoners of war must be brought before a formal hearing to determine their status, this did not happen for over three years.
The Australian held has now plea bargained to get home. But there are questions that need answering.
How can our government not intervene when one of it's citizens is charged with a law that did not exist at the time off the 'offence' and the offence was committed in a third country?
Why didn't our government object to the US buying one of it's citizens from a third party?
Judges around the world have criticized the US for holding these people prisoners. Yet our government did nothing about it!
" children are still being interrogated and will continue to be held at Guantanamo. About 660 prisoners are in the camp. They have not been tried or convicted of any offence but are being held as part of what the US calls its war on terror. " http://www.abc.net.au/news/justin/nat/newsnat-22apr2003-35.htm
Prisoners that have been released have accused the US of torturing them. These people were held for at least two years, then released without charge. Why were they held in the first place? If they tortured those they have admitted they can't charge, what are they doing to the others they still may charge?
The US may be an ally, but it is not behaving like a friend!
Is it right to fight for ' justice ' when, in doing so, you don't adhere to the principles you are fighting for?
As well as the above operations Australian service personnel are constantly involved in peace keeping / peace making operations and always on exchange with the forces of other nations, eg UK, US & NZ. Where they may become involved in operations of their host country eg KFOR.
In November 2005 there was about 1600 Australian defence personnel serving at different trouble spots around the world.
" The ADF has over 3250 personnel serving on operations around the world details of which can be found on the Defence web site at: http://www.defence.gov.au/globalops.cfm. " Department of Defence 18-4-7
Our service personnel past and present serve us by protecting us and our country. They also carry out tasks allocated to them by our government. Even though you may not agree with some of the tasks they carryout, they deserve your respect. Especially those who have served in time of war.
http://www.diggerhistory.info/
http://www.defence.gov.au/army/ahu/index.htm
http://www.defence.gov.au/raaf/
http://www.defence.gov.au/
http://www.anzacsite.gov.au/
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http://www.ebearweb.net
Wednesday 25 April 2007
Wednesday 4 April 2007
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