It is indeed an honour to be here at the War Memorial. It’s always an honour to be at the War Memorial. As you know, our work at Tarin Kot and Uruzgan province is now passing into history. This War Memorial is the custodian of our military history and it’s appropriate that I bring back from our soldiers in Tarin Kot, from our mission to Uruzgan, these artefacts.
This particular one has been with our troops throughout their time in Uruzgan province. This symbol is something that has been with them all the way in their successes, in their difficulties and it’s very apt that it’s now here at the Memorial to be preserved for posterity.
So, thank you so much for the work that you do. Thank you Brendan for the work you do. Thank you for the way the Memorial has so successfully kept the spirit of Anzac alive from the 1920s to today.
This bell which was given to Bill Shorten and myself about 36 hours ago, this was fashioned out of a shell casing that was recovered from the battlefield and it hung close to the chapel in Tarin Kot and was used to summons people for important events, including church services – so I think this is again a very apt thing for the Memorial to have.
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