Australians at War 1901-2000
1990–1996
1 January 1990
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- Ships of the Royal Australian Navy Task Force, in the Persian Gulf, Gulf War, 1990—1991. [Department of Defence photography]
1990 - 1991
Ships of an RAN Task Force participated in the United Nations force sent to Persian Gulf in the war against Iraq.
War itself seemed unreal to me, like something that only happens in books or on television. It especially hit home when Commander Moore addressed the ship's company, explaining that people were dying around us and this situation certainly was real.
[Able Seaman Natalie Collis, HMAS Westralia, describing active service in the Gulf War].
[For the purposes of this timeline, the first day of 1990 has been chosen as an indicative date only].
25 April 1990
Australian Government 75th Anniversary Pilgrimage took ANZAC veterans back to Gallipoli.
1 January 1991
1991 - 1994
Australia provided an Army communications unit to assist during the referendum among the Sahawri people of the Western Sahara (MINURSO).
[For the purposes of this timeline, the first day of the year has been chosen as an indicative date only].
1 January 1992
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- An Australian soldier assisting with the delivery of humanitarian aid in Somalia, 1992—1993. [Department of Defence photograph]
1982 - 1986, 1993 - Present
An Australian contingent, mainly from the RAAF, joined the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) to monitor the Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai.
[For the purposes of this timeline, the first day of 1982 has been chosen as an indicative date only].
1 February 1992
During February, an official pilgrimage to Banka Island commemorated the 1942 massacre of 22 members of the AANS.
[For the purposes of this timeline, the first of the month has been chosen as an indicative date only].
1 August 1993
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- Remembering a ‘mate’. A reflective moment during the ‘Return to the Western Front’ pilgrimage at a Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in France, September 1993. [Department of Veterans’ Affairs photograph]
During August, 'Return to the Western Front' Pilgrimage took World War I veteran repesentatives to France and Belgium to mark the 75th anniversary of the 1918 Australian victories in France.
[For the purposes of this timeline, the first of the month has been chosen as an indicative date only].
11 November 1993
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- The Unknown Australian Soldier begins his long journey home from France, 5 November 1993. [Department of Defence photograph]
Entombment at the Australian War Memorial of the remains of an Unkown Australian Soldier from a World War I cemetery in France.
1 January 1994
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- An Australian soldier carrying a young Rwandan boy injured during the Kibeho massacre, Rwanda, 1995. [Photograph: George Gittoes]
Australia provided the force commander and other support to the South Pacific Peace-keeping Force (SPPKF) on Bougainville, Papua New Guinea.
Australian medical personnel and protection units joined the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR).
[For the purposes of this timeline, the first day of the year has been chosen as an indicative date only].
1 January 1995
'Australia Remembers, 1945 - 1995' - a year commenced of official commemorative activities to honour and remember those who served Australia during World War II. It culminated in veterans' marches in capital cities to mark the 50th anniversary of Victory in the Pacific. Official Pilgrimages in May to North Africa, Greece and Crete, London and Paris marked the 50th anniversary of Victory in Europe. In June, an 'Up North' official pilgrimage took veteran representatives to Papua New Guinea to commemorate the significant battles of the New Guinea campaign. 'The Last Campaign' Pilgrimage in July took veteran representatives to Borneo to commemorate the battles on Tarakan, Balikpapan and Labuan and the Sandakan death marches.
1 August 1996
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- The Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, the Hon Bruce Scott, laying a poppy at the Long Tan cross site during the ‘Vietnam Revisited: Three Decades On’ Pilgrimage, 17 August 1996. [Department of Veterans’ Affairs photograph]
During August 'Vietnam Revisited - Three Decades On' took veteran representatives on an official pilgrimage to Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.
[For the purposes of this timeline, the first day of the year has been chosen as an indicative date only].