War horror hits home in Top End
BRIGADIER NICK FOXALL
WHILE tomorrow is forever linked to the Gallipoli campaign, and to the horrors associated with the Western Front, Anzac Day has evolved to mean so much more for all Australians.
For those of us living in the Northern Territory, it serves as another reminder of the Japanese attacks on Darwin and Katherine as well as other locations.
The recent commemorations for the 80th anniversary of those raids served as a visceral reminder to all of how perilously close the North came to defeat, but also how staunchly the community responded.
Few places in Australia can boast of that dubious honour – of having survived attacks and having repelled enemy forces.
When we commemorated the bombing we did so not out of celebration but from a need to remember the human loss as well as recognise the grit and resolve that marked this community’s response in
1942 and beyond.
That same grit and resolve served the Territory well at other times including the recovery after Cyclone Tracy.
Australian Defence Force members pitched in with locals to rebuild structures as well as the community.
This partnership between Territorians and the Defence forces has served all parties well.
Top Enders have farewelled, and then welcomed home, numerous troops bound for operational theatres around the world.
But it is the Northern Territory – across various communities in Darwin, Palmerston, Adelaide River, Katherine and beyond – that has played a major role in Australia’s Defence and continues to do so today.
The support Australian military personnel, and United States Marines, receive from Territorians is pivotal to the ongoing success of our activities in this region.
On Anzac Day we reflect on those women and men who lost their lives in the defence of Australia.
And it is right that we do so, and that we continue to let them occupy our thoughts for at least one day of the year.
Lest we forget.
BRIGADIER NICK FOXALL, AM, DSM IS THE COMMANDER 1ST BRIGADE AND SENIOR OFFICER OF THE AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY