MEDALS NEWS
16 January 2002
Linton NZBATT4 Parade and Medal Presentation
Hon Mark Burton
In May last year, I addressed many of you at Ohakea, as you prepared to depart
for East Timor.
Yours was a special deployment in many ways. 62 personnel were drawn from the
Territorial Force and almost 200 personnel were returning to East Timor for a
second time.
This experience was to prove invaluable.
The challenges that the 4th Battalion Group faced were considerable. For a start,
your area of operations was enormous – some 1100 square kilometres.
There was also the challenge of moulding together elements from a number of countries
into a cohesive unit.
As well as 3 Squadron and a New Zealand Surgical Team, NZBATT4 worked with an
Australian Beach landing team, a Pakistani Signals detachments, and soldiers
from Fiji, Ireland, Nepal and Singapore.
This combat troop contribution to a peacekeeping operation was a first for Singapore
and built on the long association between the New Zealand and Singapore Armed
Forces.
NZBATT4 continued the work done by previous New Zealand battalions to nullify
the destabilising influence of hostile militia operations.
You made a huge difference to the East Timorese who lived in your area of operations.
You provided a stable environment for the conduct of the first ever free elections
in East Timor, and managed the increased return of refugees in the weeks and
months that followed.
All of you who have returned from East Timor, and who we are belatedly welcoming
home officially today, can hold your heads high.
I want to make particular mention of Private Boyd Atkins, one of your colleagues
from Linton, who served with NZBATT3. We are recognising his tragic death with
the unveiling of his name on the Linton memorial wall this afternoon. I know
his loss is felt by all of us here today.
And I want to express the Government's special appreciation for the personal
sacrifices made by all the families of those who have served in East Timor.
Having your sons, husbands, wives and daughters, mums and dads away from home,
in a dangerous, remote and unpredictable environment, is never an easy thing
to cope with. Thank you, all of you.
You can have great pride in the vital role that your loved ones have played in
protecting the democratic rights of a people who have suffered so much in their
struggle towards nationhood.
I am also pleased to announce that today, Prime Minister Helen Clark will be
informing the Australian Prime Minister john Howard that New Zealand will accept
the INTERFET medal. It is estimated that 900 New Zealanders will be eligible
to accept and wear this medal, and a significant number of those personnel are
here today. I believe it is a fitting recognition of the service of individual
New Zealanders in what was a hazardous and difficult environment.
I have also been advised that the Queen has approved the acceptance and wearing
of the following medals for qualifying personnel:
· The NATO medal for service with the Stabilisation Force in Bosnia (SFOR);
· The United Nations medal for service with the United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance Afghanistan 1989-1991 (UNOCHA);
· The United Nations medal for service with the United Nations Special Commission
based in Iraq (UNSCOM);
· And the United Nations Medal for service in the Cambodian Mine Action Centre
(CMAC).
Further details about these medals will be advised soon through normal command
channels.
For members of NZBATT4, on demobilisation, I hope this parade, awarding of medals,
and the demobilisation function, will serve to properly acknowledge your service.
You now return to your home units to regenerate your conventional skills and
the normal duties associated with soldiering.
You have all served your country with honour and distinction – and every one
of you receiving the East Timor medal that we are awarding today, is richly deserving
of that recognition.
The government and the people of New Zealand are immensely pleased, proud and
grateful for the work you have all done.
Thank you all.
This page was last reviewed 29 September, 2011 and is current.