Keeping the peace: stories of Australian peacekeepers - Australians in Cambodia
- The United Nations and Cambodia
- Australians in Cambodia
Australians in Cambodia
Australia's main contribution to the United Nations operation in Cambodia was the 500-strong Force Communications Unit. These signallers were a vital part of the operation in a country in which almost all communications infrastructure had broken down. With their base in Phnom Penh, the Australians were scattered throughout Cambodia, posted in small groups at local headquarters and provincial and district capitals. Individual signallers spent up to a month at a time with small groups of military observers from other countries at isolated border crossing points.
In addition to the signallers, Australia provided a movement control group, a small number of civilian police, and six Army Blackhawk helicopters. About fifty staff from the Australian Electoral Commission helped to register and educate voters, and in the actual running of the May 1993 election.
After years of civil war, Cambodia was littered with millions of landmines. For some years, Australian de-miners worked as technical advisors with the Cambodian Mine Action Centre. Even today, more than fifty Cambodians a month are killed or injured by landmines.
Lieutenant General John Sanderson
As the United Nations force commander in Cambodia, Lieutenant General John Sanderson commanded more troops in the field than any Australian since the Second World War. He had served in Malaya and Vietnam, but Cambodia was his greatest challenge as he commanded a disparate force of 16,000 troops from 34 countries. Faced with the Khmer Rouge's refusal to adhere to the terms of the Paris agreement, and the other factions' determination to rearm, Sanderson focused on ensuring that the elections could go ahead.
After returning from Cambodia, Sanderson became Chief of the Army. After retiring from the Army, in 2000 he was appointed Governor of Western Australia.
