During their five month NORTHERN TRIDENT 2015 deployment, the crew of HMAS Anzac participated in more than a dozen commemorations, paying respects to members of the Royal Australian Navy and Australian Defence Force who died in the past century.
Anzac’s Commanding Officer, Commander Belinda Wood, highlighted the special role of the commemorative aspects of the deployment.
This was a special deployment for Anzac and her crew, with several core goals including international engagement and building interoperability with the navies and armed forces of the various nations we visited.
During the Centenary of Anzac period, however, none of our roles was more important than that of paying respects to those sailors and officers of the Royal Australian Navy who have gone to sea and never returned home.
Each of the commemorative events differed in their style and audience, including a large scale service onboard Anzac for the AE2 , hosted by Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Tim Barrett, a dawn sail-past of Anzac Cove on Anzac Day and the multinational D-Day service at the Bayeaux Cathedral in Normandy, contrasting with the smaller grave-side services in various Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries.
Anzac successfully concluded her NORTHERN TRIDENT mission commemorating the Centenary of Anzac, building interoperability with allies and strengthening Australian links to international communities.
Image: Australian Navy