Australian War Memorial unveils new Roll of Honour panels

Today the Australian War Memorial has unveiled three new bronze panels on the Roll of Honour, commemorating an additional 48 Australian servicemen and women.

A historic decision was made by the Council of the Memorial on 6 March 2013 to amend the criteria for the Roll of Honour to include Defence personnel who have died in non-warlike operations.

The Director of the Australian War Memorial, Dr Brendan Nelson said, “Today is a milestone for the 48 families of those whose names are being added to the Roll of Honour, for the Australian War Memorial and for Australia.”

“In future, when the government of Australia declares an operation which is named by the Chief of Defence, and men and women of the Defence Forces are deployed, should anyone lose their life as a result of that operation, their name will be added to the Roll of Honour,” said Dr Nelson.

Before the criteria for inclusion on the Roll of Honour were amended, members of the Australian Defence Force who had died during or as a result of non-warlike operational service – including peacekeeping and humanitarian operations – were commemorated in the Remembrance Book.

“An ongoing challenge for the Memorial is to recognise the changing nature of war and conflict. Remaining true to the vision of Charles Bean, the Memorial’s founder, the inclusion of these names on the Roll of Honour fittingly remembers the sacrifice made by these servicemen and women on behalf of all Australians,” said Dr Nelson.

In addition to installing the new panels on the Roll of Honour, the panels for conflicts since 1945 have been reorganised in the eastern cloisters, to provide continuity from the Second World War through to Afghanistan. The new panels recognising the sacrifice of those killed in non-warlike operations have been placed on the end wall of the cloisters.

The Last Post Ceremony this afternoon will include the story of Captain Peter McCarthy, one of the 48 servicemen and women added to the bronze panels today. Captain McCarthy, from Quirindi, NSW, died in 1988 when his jeep hit a landmine while he was serving with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in South Lebanon.  He was the first Australian Army officer killed on overseas service since the end of the South Vietnam conflict. He was posthumously awarded the Anzac Peace Prize, jointly with the Australian Defence Force Peacekeeping Commitment.

Media Backgrounder

Addition of names to the Roll of Honour

• Sergeant Arthur Jack Miller, 14th Australian Works and Parks Squadron,4th September 1947
• Flight Lieutenant Cyril Hans Nissen, 77 Squadron, 4th September 1947
• Stoker Ronald John Garrett, HMAS Warrnambool, 13th September 1947
• Ordinary Seaman John Herbert Hyland, HMAS Warrnambool,13th September 1947
• Signaller Norman Lloyd Lott, HMAS Warrnambool, 13th September 1947
• Able Seaman Donald Bain Sigg, HMAS Warrnambool,17th September 1947
• Flight Lieutenant Mel Joseph Quinn, 24 Squadron (attached to RAF), 22nd March 1949
• Lieutenant Kenneth Richard Roberts, BCOF Signals Regiment, 30th July 1950
• Telegraphist William John Davis, HMAS Murchison,10th January 1954
• Leading Aircraftman Maxwell James Hennessy, 78 (Fighter) Wing, 18th January 1954
• Private Ronald James Leigh, 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, 5th February 1954
• Lance Corporal Albert William Haymes, 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, 6th February 1954
• Private James Arthur Carter, Reinforcement Holding Unit, 23rd February 1954
• Chief Petty Officer Alan Spencer Hawken, HMAS Sydney, 6th March 1954
• Leading Electrical Mechanic Kenneth William Nelson, HMAS Sydney, 6th March 1954
• Private George James Stanley Innes, Reinforcement Holding Unit, 2nd May 1954
• Pilot Officer Henry Dudley Andrews, 77 Squadron, 31st May 1954
• Squadron Leader Ronald James William Sharkie, 78 (Fighter) Wing, 10th June 1954
• Private Brian Charles Waller, 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, 25th July 1954
• Captain Garth George Jarman, 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, 27th July 1954
• Private James Edgar Coatsworth, Reinforcement Holding Unit, 19th August 1954
• Private John Rhoden Kane, 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, 20th August 1954
• Lieutenant John Edward Kollias, Headquarters British Commonwealth Forces Korea, 16th September 1954
• Flight Sergeant Evan Price Rees, 78 (Fighter) Wing, 3rd February 1955
• Private Ian Percy Bevis, 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, 2nd January 1956
• Signalman Clive Joseph McArthur, British Commonwealth Base Signals Regiment, 30th January 1956
• Corporal John Nowell, Commonwealth Contingent Signal Squadron, 24th November 1956
• Bombardier Lionel Aubrey Tucker, 101 Field Battery RAA, 26th February 1961
• (No Rank Listed) Robert Harold Nimmo, Staff Corps, 4th January 1966
• Second Lieutenant Kevin Damian Joseph Shoppee, 1st Aviation Regiment, 29th November 1973
• Flight Lieutenant Ralph Nigel Keith Taylor, 9 Squadron, 29th July 1977
• Captain Peter James McCarthy, Royal Australian Corps of Transport, 12th January 1988
• Major Susan Lee Felsche, Royal Australian Army Medical Corps, 21st June 1993
• Lance Corporal Shawn Lewis, 145th Signals Squadron, 20th May 2000
• Private Jamie Clark 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, 10th March 2005
• Leading Seaman Scott Andrew Charles Bennet, HMAS Kanimbla, 2nd April 2005
• Lieutenant Matthew Peter Davey, HMAS Kanimbla, 2nd April 2005
• Lieutenant Matthew Phillip Goodall, HMAS Kanimbla, 2nd April 2005
• Sergeant Wendy Elizabeth Jones, Air Transportable Health Squadron Amberley, 2nd April 2005
• Lieutenant Paul John Kimlin, HMAS Kanimbla, 2nd April 2005
• Lieutenant Jonathan Curlewis King, HMAS Kanimbla, 2nd April 2005
• Squadron Leader Paul Stuart McCarthy, Health Services Flight Pearce, 2nd April 2005
• Flight Lieutenant Lynne Elizabeth Rowbottom, Health Services Flight Townsville, 2nd April 2005
• Petty Officer Stephen Craig Slattery, HMAS Kanimbla, 2nd April 2005
• Captain Mark Bingley, 171 Aviation Squadron, 29th November 2006
• Trooper Joshua Nathan Noel Porter, Special Air Service Regiment, 29th November 2006
• Private Ashley Arthur Baker, 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, 5th November 2007
• Craftsman Beau Edward Pridue, 8 Combat Service Support Battalion, 15th September 2011