Friday 1 November marked the rededication of the RAAF National Memorial on Anzac Parade, Canberra. It was a very moving ceremony with all the pomp and military ceremony it deserved. A timely reminder of the 14,000 lives given by Australian Flying Corps and RAAF members over 90 years (from 400,000).
Our Prime Minister, the Honourable John Howard, spoke so impressively of our current RAAF members who did such a good job moving the wounded from Bali recently. But he also reminded us of the dreadful toll by 2% of the WWII enlisted members who made up Bomber Command who became 20% of the dead!
Luckily for your webmaster, her father survived this dreadful period of history to return and give the rest of his working life to the RAAF and Australia. Dad flew Lancasters in WWII, then most aircraft types used by the RAAF from 1950 - 1970. I was very proud to represent my family at this ceremony.
It was the largest gathering of RAAF Squadron Colours, I think I counted 39. They came from all around the country to represent the men and woman currently serving Australia. A most moving sight as they were marched from the Australian War Memorial to the RAAF Memorial.
It was lovely to see the aircraft fly directly over our heads coming from Lake Burley Griffin in front of Parliament House directly up the right hand side of Anzac Parade and then turning away before the War Memorial and Mt Ainslie. The aircraft included 3 Iroquis helicopters (ex RAAF, Vietnam era); HARS Neptune; Temora's Wirraway, Meteor, Vampire and Canberra; Ex Ansett DC-3; Harvard; Winjeel; 6 Roulette PC-9s; 3 Hornets; and last but definitely the best 3 F-111s with their wings at different settings.
The ceremony closed with everyone singing the national anthem - and everyone sang and knew the words.
Extract from the
official Dedication booklet:
Prayer:
Almighty God,
We thank you for the diligence and service of the Royal Australian Air Force
in times of peace and war.
May we be inspired by the example of those who served in the quest for freedom,
justice and peace.
We pray for all Air Force personnel; May they be courageous and skilful in ocercoming
difficulties and always aware of your guiding and sustaining Spirit. AMEN
Loving Father,
Who gives life to all,
We entrust to your keeping all those who have died in the service of our country.
We pray for all who suffer from the effects of war; Grant them healing of their
memories and your peace.
For those who in sadness at this time recall lives lost; Grant them healing
of their mourning and your comfort. AMEN
God of the Nations,
Bless this land of ours. Enable us to love our country, not in word only, but
in deed and truth.
May our service be worthy of our Nation's true greatness so that Australia may
be able totake its place in preserving peace on earth.
In the face of violent and unjust aggression give us the courage to defend those
unable to protect themselves. AMEN
Anthem - was sung
by Sing Australia Choir, music by RAAF Air Command Band
FLIGHT (THE HIGHER WE FLY) Words by John Gillespie Magee Jr, John Denver and
Joe Henry. Music by Lee Holdridge.
Oh, I slipped the
surly bonds of earth,
And danced the sky on laughter and slivered wings.
Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth,
Of sunsplit clouds and done a hundred things.
I've wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence.
Hovering there, I've chased the shouting winds aloft,
And flung my eager craft through footless halls of air.
The higher we fly,
the father we go,
The closer we are to each other.
The darker the night, the brighter the star,
In peace, go my sisters and brothers.
Up, up the long
delirious burning blue,
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace.
Where never lark nor even eagle flew.
And while with silent lifting mind I trod,
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.
The higher we fly,
the father we go,
The closer we are to each other.
The darker the night, the brighter the star,
In peace, go my sisters and brothers
The Royal Australian Air Force motto is Per Ardua ad Astra - Through Struggle to the Stars
The RAAF has a long and proud history. It is one of world's oldest independent air forces, having been established on 31 March 1921 - just three years after the first, the Royal Air Force.
Military aviation first began in Australia when Central flying School was formed at Point Cook (Victoria) in 1912, only nine years after Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first successful powered flight at Kitty Hwak, North carolina. Central Flying School grew quickly into the Australian Flying Corps. By 1914 Australian pilots had been despatched on active service to New Guinea, to help seize German colonies. One year later, the Australian flying Corps was fighting in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq); and by the end of World War I, four Australian squadrons were in action in the Middle East and on the Western Front in France.
In World War II, the Air Force fought with tenacity, skill and great sacrifice in all theatres of conflict. Australian airmen served in Britain, Europe, North Africa, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, the Soviet Union, India and Burma, South-East Asia and the Pacific. Aircrew serving in Bomber Command suffered massive casualties in the air war over Germany and Occupied Europe, taking the war to the heartland of the enemy. In direct defence of our nation, men of the Royal Australian Air Force and women of the Women's Auxilliary Australian Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force Nursing Service made a major contribution to victory in the Battle for Australia.
Since World War II, men and women of the Royal Australian Air Force have served with distinction in the Cold War, the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency, Indonesian Confrontation, South-East Asia, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, East Timor, the War Against Terrorism, numerous peacekeeping operations throughout the world and many humanitarian and search and rescue operations in Australia and the region.
PRINCIPAL
DONORS TO THE MEMORIAL FUND
Commonwealth of Australia, Government of the Australian Capital Territory, Government
of New South Wales, Government of Queensland, Government of South Australia,
Government of Tasmania, Government of Victoria, Government of Western Australia,
Royal Air Force, Air Force News, BAE Systems, Boeing Australia, Dassault Aviation,
Lockheed Martin, National Air Support, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Pilatus
Aircraft Limited, Rolls-Royce, Thales.
SIGNIFICANT
DONORS
Royal Australian Air Force Association, Katherine Town Council, Council of the
City of Wagga Wagga, Wellington Shire Council (Vic), Ball Solutions Group, Tenix
Pty Ltd.