Petty Officer Julie Higgs, of HMAS ANZAC, embraces her daughters Jordan and Maddy, during a ...

Petty Officer Julie Higgs, of HMAS ANZAC, embraces her daughters Jordan and Maddy, during a homecoming ceremony at Victoria Quay, Fremantle, WA. Petty Officer Higgs was the only mother on board HMAS ANZAC during its deployment to the Persian Gulf and Iraq. looks on. HMAS ANZAC [III] left Australia for the Gulf on 28 October 2002, under Operation Slipper, Australia’s contribution to the international fight against terrorism, to participate in the Multinational Interception Force enforcing UN sanctions against Iraq. The ship was then assigned to Operation Bastille, the build-up of Australian forces against Iraq, in January 2003, and then to Operation Falconer, Australia’s contribution to the war on Iraq, in March 2003. During this deployment, the ANZAC became the first Navy ship to fire her guns in combat since the Vietnam war.