An unidentified woman holds a sign reading “PORT LINCOLN” as she waits to greet sailors from HMAS ...

An unidentified woman holds a sign reading “PORT LINCOLN” as she waits to greet sailors from HMAS ANZAC and HMAS Darwin at a homecoming at Victoria Quay, Fremantle, WA. Two thousand people gathered to welcome the sailors home. HMAS ANZAC [III] and HMAS Darwin left Australia for the Persian 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. They were 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.