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Features
"An
event to remember"
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Squadron
Standards, Queen’s Colours and Governor-General’s Banners
are paraded for the Air Force Memorial dedication.
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CAF
Air Marshal Angus Houston and Governor-General Peter Hollingworth
shake hands at the unveiling of the revamped memorial.
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A
flypast of historic aircraft provides a fitting finale to the
dedication ceremony.
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IT was a case
of the old merging with the new as Anzac Parade in Canberra played host
to a ceremony to dedicate the new National Memorial to the Royal Australian
Air Force on November 1.
About 750 invited guests, including past and present Air Force members,
along with hundreds of members of the public gathered under perfect spring
sunshine for an event full of colour, movement, excitement and nostalgia.
From the flypast to the full parading of Air Force Colours to the memorial
unveiling itself, the day was punctuated by many highlights.
Following the official memorial unveiling by Governor-General Peter Hollingworth,
eyes turned to the sky as a Wirraway, Winjeel and Harvard appeared over
the Canberra skyline, the first in a procession of 23 vintage and current
aircraft that delighted the crowd in a flypast.
For the next few minutes, the air was filled with some of the Air Force’s
best-known makes and models, from the graceful Spitfire and Mustang to
the lethal F-111 and many more.
As the final aircraft – three F/A-18 Hornets – roared overhead,
the crowd’s focus shifted back to the ceremony’s centrepiece
– artist Robert Boynes’ striking new memorial design, which
enhances the original sculpture.
The memorial was designed to more fully portray the history of the Royal
Australian Air Force and the contribution by former and current serving
personnel in times of war and peace.
The memorial consists of three separate walls arranged in a staggered
fashion which depict images of the Air Force through time on the front
and feature the Air Force Battle Honours on the back.
A quote from a poem by Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, a Royal Canadian
Air Force Spitfire pilot killed in World War 2, adorns one of the walls.
It reads: “I have slipped the surly bonds of earth ... put out my
hand, and touched the face of God.”
Speaking at the dedication, Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Houston said
the occasion was very significant for the Air Force.
“This magnificent memorial recognises not only those who have given
their lives for our nation but also the 400,000 men and women who have
served in war and peace,” AIRMSHL Houston said.
Prime Minister John Howard agreed, referring to the sacrifices and contributions
made by Air Force men and women from World War 1 to the recent Bali bombing.
The ceremony began with a vibrant parade of the Queen’s Colours of
the Royal Australian Air Force together with Unit Queen’s Colours,
Squadron Standards and Governor-General’s Banners of current units
in the Air Force.
Before that, the Roulettes entertained the large crowd with an acrobatic
display that wowed both young and old.
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