MEAO to pause for Anzac Day

By Ruth Duffy
Volume 48, No. 6, April 20, 2006

J1-J4 staff, back row: L-R SQNLDR Kate Carlisle, CMDR Simon Ottaviano, FSGT Andy Godwin, FLTLT Keith Hannan, CAPT Phil Baldoni, WO2 Mick Biasci. Front row: L-R MAJ John Velarde, LCPL Smiling Bill, SQNLDR John Rodriguez, SQNLDR Adrian De Savi.

Photo by LTCOL Christopher Holcroft

SGT Mick Thomson outside HQJTF633 in Camp Victory.

Photo by LTCOL Christopher Holcroft

DEPLOYED personnel will stop to remember the fallen during Anzac Day services across the Middle East.

Air Force members will commemorate Anzac Day on April 25 with Dawn Service at Camp Victory, Baghdad. The location for the service will provide an excellent vantage point to view the sunrise.

Joint Task Force 633 staff will pause in an area affectionately known as Australia Island.

A sandstone plinth recovered from a devastated building on the base has been inscribed by past Australian personnel with the words ‘Lest We Forget’ and will be the centrepiece of the service.

The day will then be followed by a traditional Gunfire breakfast, BBQ and Two–Up on the balcony of the headquarters building.

Task Group 633.4, deployed since February 2003, will host their own Dawn Service, complete with catafalque party. The group of approximately 120 people operate C-130 aircraft in support of operations Slipper and Catalyst.

A Gunfire breakfast and an Anzac church service will follow, the day closing with the lowering of the Australian flag at a dusk retreat ceremony.

The Task Group has begun a publicity and education campaign to help introduce base personnel to Australia’s military heritage. Sales of RSL fundraising pins, including the slouch hat and the Rising Sun pins, have attracted great interest.

Anzac Day will be an opportunity for serving members to feel proud of their contributions, remember those that have gone before them and be reminded that Australia will be remembering and thanking them.

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