More Defence news: 10 November 2008 - 16 November 2008

Australia’s Last Two Missing ADF Members in Vietnam

13 November – An Australian Government team has begun a comprehensive investigation in an attempt to account for the last two missing Australian Defence Force members in Vietnam.

Flying Officer Michael Herbert and Pilot Officer Robert Carver disappeared on 3 November 1970. They had conducted a bombing mission and were returning to base when their Canberra bomber was lost without trace approximately 65 kilometres south west of Da Nang. An inquiry conducted in late 1970 was unable to determine the cause of the incident from available evidence.

This investigation will draw on information from sources in Australia, Vietnam, the United States and other countries, and acknowledges the efforts and commitment to recovery of Australian war dead shown by Jim Bourke and Operation Aussies Home.

More: Media release

Remembrance Day 2008 - Iraq

12 November – Yesterday, Australians in the Middle East Area of Operations and around the world paused for Remembrance Day, commemorating 90 years since the end of World War I.

At exactly 11am, ‘as the guns fell silent’, Headquarters Joint Task Force 633 paid tribute to Australian diggers who served in the Great War and those who had fallen in recent times fighting overseas.

Major General Michael Hindmarsh, AO, CSC, Commander of Australian Forces in Middle East Area of Operations read ‘In Flanders’ Fields’ to a respectful crowd and laid a wreath to recognise the sacrifices made by fallen soldiers.

Colonel Mark Elliott – Army, Lieutenant Commander Greg Davis – Navy and the Deputy Commander Australian Forces in Iraq, Air Commodore Tim Owen – Air Force all laid wreaths for their respective services.

More: Image gallery 1 | Image gallery 2

Bereavement pin for Navy families

12 November - Yesterday, the Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, the Hon. Warren Snowdon MP, announced the commissioning of a bereavement pin for family members of Navy personnel who lost their lives while serving in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), and the nation.

The Navy Bereavement Pin will represent the lives lost by those who were committed to the Navy and the family’s sacrifice and loss.

HMAS Sydney II family members attending memorial services in Canberra, Geraldton and at sea in HMAS Manoora on 19 November will be the first invited to receive a Navy Bereavement Pin.

Family members of Navy personnel who died while serving in the RAN since Federation, during war or peace time, on active service or off duty, are invited to apply for a pin by calling Navy on 02 6266 2285 or emailing NAVY.BereavementPin@defence.gov.au

More: Media release

DNA extraction from remains buried at Fromelles

12 November – Yesterday, the Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, the Hon. Warren Snowdon MP, announced that Britain and Australia had jointly agreed to attempt DNA extraction from the remains of those First World War soldiers buried at Pheasant Wood, Fromelles.

It is estimated the remains of up to 400 Australian and British soldiers are interred in a group burial site at Fromelles, where they were originally laid to rest by German Forces in 1916.

The decision to exhume and individually re-inter each soldier was made following a limited excavation at the site earlier this year which proved the remains were still in situ.

Members of the public who believe they may have a relative interred at the site are encouraged to register their details at www.defence.gov.au/fromelles or by calling the public inquiries line on 1800 019 090. This database of current living relatives may be used in the future to identify individual remains, if the scientific methods prove to be feasible.

More: Media release