CTF 150 commemorates ANZAC day with visit to HMAS Arunta and dawn service
On 23 April Rear Admiral Lebas, Commander of Combined Task Force 150 (CTF 150), visited the Captain and crew of HMAS Arunta while the frigate was alongside in Bahrain. The Ship has been conducting counter terrorism operations in the Middle East and Indian Ocean since November 2016.
Crew members delivered presentations on the ship’s equipment and demonstrations of its operational boarding capabilities, which were proven when it seized over 800kg of hashish earlier this year in March.
The visit was a prelude to ANZAC day, held on the 25 April, for which a dawn service was held to commemorate all men and women who have served in the Australian Defence Force, and to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. On 25 April 1915 the ANZAC forces landed at Anzac cove beginning the land phase of the Gallipoli Campaign.
The campaign was planned in the wake of a stalemate on the Western Front. It aimed to secure the route to the Black Sea through the Dardanelles, divert Ottoman troops from the Caucasus and draw Bulgaria and Greece into the war on the Allied side.
The date also marks the 99th Anniversary of the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux in April 1918 where two Australian brigades launched a successful counter attack preventing the German Forces from capturing Amiens.
For the dawn service, members of the Combined Maritime Forces were joined by crew members from HMAS Arunta and diplomatic representatives from Australia, New Zealand, Turkey and the UK.
HMAS Arunta is set to resume its counter-terrorism mission with CTF 150 in the Indian Ocean.
Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) 