Teams get marching orders

For the first time, teams from RAAF Bases Amberley and Tindal will participate in the Nijmegen March, the world’s oldest march. About 35 Air Force personnel, made up of No. 23 (City of Brisbane) Squadron and a detachment from No. 75 Squadron at Tindal, will take part in the 160km march from July 20-23 in the Netherlands.

The event is one of the world’s major marching events, attracting more than 45,000 military personnel who compete in teams. Squadron Leader Nicholas Hese, of 23SQN, described the event as challenging but enormously rewarding.

“Our team has been preparing for the march now for over four months,” he said.

“Fatigue, blisters and the rigours associated with this kind of event mean the team needs to build up both their physical capacity and their team spirit.”

The Dutch Army hosts the march and participants include members of NATO, police, emergency services and private clubs and organisations from around Europe.

The RAF will host the Australian contingent. After the march is completed, the team members will lay a wreath at Arnhem and participate in a freedom of the city march in London. The Nijmegen March has been conducted since 1909, and after World War II has been marked as a commemoration of Operation Market Garden, where Allied paratroopers attempted to capture bridges in German-occupied Holland to clear a route into Germany.

The operation was one of the great failures of the war and more than 10,000 Allied lives were lost. SQNLDR Hese said the group was still coordinating financial support for travel to the march.

“The expenses associated with the travel of members participating at Nijmegen are considerable, but the assistance of a cross section of supporters from the business community has definitely assisted our progress ... but we’ve still got some way to go,” he said.

People who want to provide material or financial support should contact SQNLDR Hese on (07) 546 12101 or Flying Officer Leon Matheson on (08) 897 37757.

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