Somalia
In
1993, 54 soldiers from the 2/4 RAR Battalion was detached to 1 RAR for
operational service in Somalia as part of Operation Solace.
The
Mission. In December 1992, a UN peacekeeping force
led by 2,000 United States Marines were sent to Somalia to restore order after
months of Clan Fighting which had left thousands of people dying of starvation.
This was the start of Operation Restore Hope, an operation that designed
to distribute food and other humanitarian aid to the people of Somalia. This
intervention was unique in that, not only was it the first time the United
Nations had ever intervened without permission in the affairs of an independent
nation it was also the first time that a Battalion Group (Bn Gp) of Australian
soldiers had deployed on active service since 4 RAR/NZ had commenced its tour of
South Vietnam in 1971.
The Australian operation was called Operation Solace and
involved the deployment of a Battalion Group (Bn Gp) of some 900 personnel, the
majority from 1 RAR. Their mission was to provide a secure environment for the
distribution of humanitarian aid, within the Humanitarian Relief sector (HRS),
Baidoa, a total area of some 17000 square kilometres.
The Baidoa HRS was hot, dry and unrepenting land. Stories abound of the trips that the Bn Gp took to get to Somalia. The plane trip and the long boat journey by members of Alpha Company on Christmas Eve. Delta Company and attachments disembarked from their civilian charter plane to the sounds of gunfire. How could this be, when you are alighting from an Australian owned aircraft with a kangaroo on the tail and your weapons are still in bubble wrap in the hold of the aircraft? The drive to Baidoa proved to be without incident, although the soldiers were probably looking in awe at the destruction and the open display of poverty and malnutrition that greeted them for over 150 kilometres.
The Commanding Officer of the 1 RAR Bn Gp took command of HRS Baidoa on the 19 January 1993, Swiss Replica Watches from 3/9 Battalion United States Marine Corps (USMC). The Battalion Group had all arrived in the HRS safely and soon found that life for the civilians was a battle to stay alive. By the time the Bn Gp had arrived many people had perished beyond help, their bodies withered, so that even children looked like old men. This took the young soldiers by surprise; no briefing could prepare them for what they would see over the next 5 months. The Bn Gp got on with the job and was soon escorting food and humanitarian aid convoys, local township security, patrolling in depth and the protection of the Australian assets at the airfield.
2/4 RAR Australian Force- Somalia nominal roll 1PL PTE SJ HEY RFN 2PL PTE DT GOLLOP RFN 3PL PTE KC MURRELLS RFN PTE DR RANDALL RFN 4PL PTE S.A BRADSHAW RFN PTE N.J. ELMA RFN PTE S.C. GRIESE RFN PTE D.J. HAWKINS RFN 5PL PTE B.A. KIPPING RFN PTE B.G. LUMBY RFN PTE T.A. McGILL RFN PTE A.J. McGUINNESS RFN PTE A.R. PARKER RFN 6PL PTE A.C. BILSTON RFN PTE J.L. COX RFN PTE K.J. PERRY RFN PTE S.W. POLLOCK RFN PTE C.S. RHODES RFN PTE C.A. RICHARDSON RFN PTE M.J. ROSIER RFN CHQ PTE B.R. DICKINSON STMN 7PL PTE G.M. BROWN RFN PTE P.E. LAWS RFN PTE S.D. MILLIGAN RFN PTE S.L. O'MEARA RFN PTE J.L. SLATTERY RFN 8PL PTE D.A. BALL RFN PTE A. CAMPBELL RFN 9PL PTE J.D. DONALD RFN PTE A.C. EVERSON RFN PTE R.J. McCORMICK RFN PTE D.P. MOORE RFN PTE M.W. PARSONS RFN CHQ PTE M.J. COOK CLK/RFN PTE C.R. ELLIOTT RFN PTE M.R. NANCARROW RFN 10PL PTE J.A. ADAMS RFN PTE S.J. HOLLIS RFN PTE S.D. INNES RFN PTE P.A. STEPHENS RFN 11PL PTE P. DENBY RFN PTE A.J. McNAMEE RFN PTE J.L. WATENE RFN 12PL PTE J.R. HOLLINGWORTH RFN PTE J.C. READDY RFN PTE W.O. REDLICH RFN PTE C.J. WILLIS RFN PTE A.J. WILSON RFN DFSW PL PTE A.J. WALLACE DFSW MORTAR PL PTE J.A. PAIN MOR ASS-PIONEER PL PL PTE K.B. CARLIN PNR PTE R.J. SOMERTON PNR PTE M.D. COOKE PNR Audemars Piguet Replica