Longley, Paul (Lieutenant, b.1959)

Collection relating to the United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II) service of 0117785 Lieutenant Paul Longley, Movements Control Unit, Royal Australian Navy, 1993-1994.

Wallet 1 of 1 - Consists of two folders of letters, documents, article clippings and newsletters related to Longley's deployment with the Movements Control Unit as part of the second rotation of Australian personnel to UNOSOM II from July to November 1993.

Folder 1 of 2 - Consists of 11 letters Longley wrote to Lieutenant Commander Paddy Flynn and his commanding officer at the Naval Police Coxswain Branch in Sydney between 14 July and 16 November 1993. Longley describes the conditions in Mogadishu, of his work coordinating logistics at the dock and, later, as Transport Control Officer and Operations Officer at the United Nations headquarters, and of coming under sniper, rifle and mortar fire. Longley also writes of his interactions with Somalis and other United Nations personnel, the limitations of the United Nations and inertia of the dual civil/military bureaucracy, the political and security situation, firefights and helicopters being short down, the wounding and death of United States, Pakistani and other personnel, and the Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid.

Folder 2 of 2 - Consists of documents, newsletters and article clippings related to UNOSOM II, Longley's service in Somalia, and of the Somali Veterans Association. The folder includes minutes and briefing documents on and for the Australian contingent with UNOSOM II, including assessments of the security situation and the current guerrilla war, a Navy News article by Longley on the RAN personnel with UNOSOM II, and copies of nine editions of the Somali newspaper Maanta, which contain articles on the operations of UNOSOM and the situation in Somalia. The folder also includes two newsletters of the Somali Veterans Association from 1994. The newsletters discuss the purpose and formation of the association, the possibility of a reunion, and the decision to award the veterans the Australian Active Service Medal. The newsletters also include lists of members and a nominal roll of personnel who served with rotations 2 and 3 of the Australian contingent to UNOSOM II.

Lieutenant Paul Longley's experiences in Somalia were collected in the memoir "Not a Real War: A Sailor's Experiences in a Soldier's War", published in 2015. The book can be found at the call number 355.46096773 L856n.