The War Memorial has announced the installation of new bronze panels bearing the names of the dead to add non-warlike operational fatalities:
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 anyone huffs and puffs it’s worth remembering the Roll had already contained the names of some who died in training during the World Wars and the less we delve into the casualties of Alexandria’s brothels the happier we will all be.