' or, S I. 4.
PRIME MINISTER
SPEECH BY THB PRIM M[ NISTER, THE HON P J KEATING MP AT
THE AIR FORCES* NORIAL RUIIYME SATURDAY, 4 JUNE
1994 We have come to Runnymede on the fiftieth anniversary of
D-Day to pay tribute to some of tWose who gave their
rives in defence of liberty.
We honour all those whose memory is preserved here.
Never were men braver or more selfless. They gave their
lives so that we might enjoy freedom.
We honour in particular our countrymen: those Australians
who left their homes and all they loved to cross the
world and fight in a war against evil.
Their deeds bestowed great honour on Australia, indelible
honour on themselves.
We should tell our children what this var concerned. Why
Australians came to right alongside the British, the
Americans and the Canadians. Why a generation of
Australians believed freedom was worth dying for. Their
spirit can nourish the life of a nation.
Shortly before I left Canberra my office received a
letter from an Australian, Xr Martin Pirrie, whose
father's brother commanded a small coastal craft offt the
coast of Normandy on D Day. It was his 24th birthday. In
support of the Canadians he went within range of the
enemy's guns and, with others of his crew, was killed.
His brother learned of the event while serving with the
Australian infantry in New Guinea. Kr Pirrie wrote:
I cannot help but feel that in many ways young
Richard typified the spirit of those Australians who
fought and died in the war and reflected the values
and spirit of the country they gave their lives for
in a foreign land.
it is true. It is why we remember them wherever they
served. (; 5199
2
It is appropriate on the eve of D-Day's anniversary that
we pay tribute to all the Australians who served in
European campaigns: those who fought against the odds in
Greece and Crete; those who spent precious years of their
lives in prison camps in Europe; those who served in the
forces of other allied nations; those who fought and died
in the crucial war at sea.
In Australia the memory of every one of them who died is
held sacred: their names are recorded on the walls of the
Australian War Memorial with the 100,000 others who made
the supreme sacrifice for their country.
The names of 1397 Australians more than a quarter of
all our airmen killed in Europe in World War 11 are
inscribed here at Runnymnede. They number among the
eighteen thousand Au4stralian servicemen and women with no
known grave.
The Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier is for them.
The principles for which Australians fought in Europe are
universal ones. Liberty, justice and human decency do not
know the boundaries of nations or cultures, any more than
courage and sacrifice know them.
So it is right that they should be honoured here among
those from other countries with whom they fought and died
in common cause.
And it is right that they should be honoured in the
country from which came the most stalwart resistance to
tyranny. For Britain embodied the courage democracy
needed. Britain inspired the tree world and those whose
freedom had been taken from them. There can be no doubt
she inspired those whose names are recorded here.
In the course of the war two Australian Prime Ministers,
Robert Menzies and John Curtin, came to Britain and were
moved by her example.
John Curtin visited shortly before D-Day. When he
returned to Australia, he reminded the Parliament of the
epic dimensions of the British effort. It is worth our
being reminded now.
" They have thwarted an invasion by a great and powerful
continental foe" he said.
At the risk of their local defence they have
conducted campaigns overseas, and are at present
engaged in the greatest of all. They have
maintained command of the sea over a large part of
the globe. They have conducted an air offensive in
Europe. They have produced immense quantities of
munitions and supplies not only for their own
requirements, but for other-members of the United
Nations.
( f0
4 3
Fifty years later the admiration John Curtin expressed
lives on. It is true that in fundamental ways our future
is less closely intertwined with Britain's than our past.
But whatever different paths we take the history we share
the story we share goes with us. The battles we
fought together will be remembered. The men and women
who fought them will be remembered. And Britain's heroic
defence of freedom will never be forgotten.
Nor shall the Australian airmen of this memorial be
forgotten.
Twenty thousand Australian aircrew served in Bomber
Command 3486 were killed, a death rate to compare with
that on the Western Front in World War I.
They were young men. They knew how high the risks were.
Rollo Kingsford-Smith commanded No 463 RAAF Lancaster
Squadron. The Squadron had an operational aircrew of
about 240, yet in the 18 months after November 1943, 546
were killed or posted as missing in action.
Mr Kingsford-Smith wrote to se a few weeks ago:
Young inexperienced crews coming into my Squadron
knew their death was almost certain, yet their
morale was always high and they fought the Germans
and the weather with equal determination. Other
Australian squadrons and Australians in RAF
squadrons would tell a similar story.
These Australians served their
fought at Gallipoli and on the
They fought in that tradition.
lives was an immeasurable loss
immeasurable loss to Australia. country as those who
Western Front had served.
The loss of their young
to their loved ones an
But it can never be doubted that they fought in a great
cause.
Mr Kingsford-Smith tells me that " many next-of-kin of
those Air Force men feel Australia has forgotten then.."
From today let there be no doubt that we will always
remember them.
RUNNYMEDE 4 JUNE 1994 G; 0I