The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (8227988) Lieutenant Michael Kenneth Housdan Fussell, 4 RAR (Commando), Afganistan.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by , the story for this day was on (8227988) Lieutenant Michael Kenneth Housdan Fussell, 4 RAR (Commando), Afganistan.

8227988 Lieutenant Michael Kenneth Housdan Fussell, 4 RAR (Commando)
KIA 27 November 2008

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lieutenant Michael Kenneth Housdan Fussell.

Mike was born on 17 November 1983 at Coffs Harbour, New South Wales. He was the first-born son of Ken and Madeline, and elder brother to Daniel, and sister, Nyah. Ken was a Forest Manager for State Forests New South Wales and Madeline was an early childhood educator.

A year after Mike was born, Ken’s work took the family to Tamworth where they lived for the next nine years. After a year in Walcha, they moved to Arding, between Armidale and Uralla, where they settled on a 20-acre property in 1994. Mike received his early education at St Edwards Primary School in Tamworth, then Walcha Central School, and the Armidale School.

He was a cheeky red-headed lad who loved growing up in rural New South Wales. Mike always had a great love for animals, especially dogs and horses and he rode in competitions including jumping and polocrosse. He was at his happiest on a horse, the rugby field or a surf board.

Mike was a loyal, dedicated and empathetic young man, and a good friend to many. He was also a very thoughtful and caring son and brother. Writing home from Afghanistan, Mike expressed his respect for his parents, for the manner in which they had brought him up, and that he “could not have hoped for a better childhood”.

After finishing school Mike enlisted in the Australian Army in January 2002 and was appointed an officer cadet at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra. He completed a Bachelor of Arts degree while continuing to play rugby.

In 2005 he attended the Royal Military College, Duntroon, commissioning in December that year into the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery. Upon graduation Mike was posted to A Field Battery, 4th Field Regiment. During this time, he also qualified as a paratrooper.

After serving in Timor-Leste in 2006 and 2007, Mike was posted to the 4th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment (Commando), as a Joint Offensive Support Team commander. He was later a Platoon Commander for the Advanced Infantry Course at Singleton and also completed the Joint Terminal Attack Controller course.

Mike deployed to Afghanistan on 4 November 2008 with 4RAR, joining the Special Operations Task Group. Its role was to provide security in Uruzgan Province by disrupting the Taliban, and to provide support to the Reconstruction Task Force. Mike’s role was the senior Joint Terminal Attack Controller, being highly trained to call in direct support from air strikes and artillery.

Late on the night of 26 November, Force Element Charlie – mostly men from 1 Commando Company – set out on an operation to the north-east of the Australian base at Tarin Kot. Mike was part of this team as the JTAC specialist. Its mission was to clear some compounds where insurgent leaders were suspected to be located. After leaving their vehicles in the desert, the patrol proceeded on foot toward the Mirabad Valley. It was a freezing cold night. Up into the rugged hills, devoid of any vegetation, they moved quickly towards the target.

In the early hours of 27 November, Force Element Charlie was approximately 1 kilometre south of the village of Now Joy, approaching its target. At approximately 1.12 am as the men pressed on through the darkness, Mike stepped on an IED – an improvised explosive device. The blast killed him instantly and wounded two others. After clearing a safe path to where Mike lay, a stretcher party carried his body out and a helicopter transported him back to base.

Mike’s body was returned to Australia on 3 December. 4RAR formed a guard of honour as his casket was carried off the aircraft by his tri-service ADFA mates and myself. After the funeral in Armidale, Mike was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the ocean at Diggers Beach, Coffs Harbour, one of his favourite surf beaches and close to where Madeline and Ken now live. He was 25 years old.

There are plaques in remembrance of Mike placed in the Garden of Remembrance, in Rookwood, Uralla, Armidale and Sawtell memorial parks. The family is deeply grateful for the communities that have instigated these tributes in Mike’s memory.

Mike’s training, professionalism, expertise and charisma, meant his loss was deeply felt across the Defence Force. But to his family the blow was hardest. A much loved son and brother was so suddenly gone.

On Remembrance Day 1993, a nine-year-old Mike Fussell was watching on television the interment of the Unknown Australian Soldier here at the Australian War Memorial. Ever thoughtful, it moved him to write a poem. The penultimate stanza read,

“He was faithful to his country,
And faithful to his family and friends,
But he didn’t come back alive”.

Mike’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, among the 45 Australians who have died during or as a result of their service in Afghanistan.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Lieutenant Michael Kenneth Housdan Fussell, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Craig Tibbitts
Historian, Military History Section