Accession Number | P04223.753 |
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Collection type | Photograph |
Object type | Negative |
Maker |
Dupont, Stephen |
Place made | Pacific Islands: Solomon Islands, Guadalcanal, Kolina |
Date made | 6 November 2003 |
Conflict |
Period 2000-2009 Solomon Islands (RAMSI), 2003-2013 |
Copyright |
Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial![]() |
Source credit to | Acquired through Australian War Memorial official commission 2003 |
An unidentified Australian pilot speaks into his radio headset as the crew of UH-1H ‘Huey’ ...
An unidentified Australian pilot speaks into his radio headset as the crew of UH-1H ‘Huey’ Iroquois helicopter A2-508 prepare to take off from the beach at Kolina, on the Weather Coast of Guadalcanal. Also visible are Sergeant Robert Knox, Loadmaster, of 171 Operational Support Squadron, 1st Aviation Regiment, (centre), and Sapper Greenhalgh of 21 Troop, 3 Combat Engineer Regiment (3CER) (left). Four Australian Iroquois helicopters were deployed to the Solomon Islands under Operation Anode, Australia’s military contribution to the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI). They worked closely with four New Zealand Iroquois helicopters from No. 3 Squadron, RNZAF, to fulfil RAMSI’s reconnaissance, transport and medical evacuation requirements, including transporting personnel and equipment to and from the police posts established on the remote Weather Coast, which could be reached only by air and sea. Kolina had been a stronghold of militant leader Harold Keke, who surrendered to RAMSI forces on 13 August 2003. A police post was established in Kolina shortly after Keke’s arrest, on 16 August 2003, with security support provided by Australian and Pacific military forces. Members of 3CER provided engineering support to the establishment of police posts and military facilities, and to the decommissioning of weapons and explosives.