Australian War Memorial unveils new exhibition to mark 30 years since Somalia peacekeeping mission

"We were young and enthusiastic, but perhaps not very well equipped," the Australian Army veteran said.

"And the logistics support wasn't great. But the burden of the work that was born by the young soldiers, that's the thing that sticks out to me most.

"I recall one of the local elders, describing the Australian soldiers like a colony of ants - all over the place. And we were.

"For those five months I was there, we worked very hard to provide a secure environment and provide the Somali people with a little bit of hope while we were there, to try to alleviate their suffering."

The long-serving member of the Australian Army spent 137 days in the African country and was one of the more than 1000 Australian personnel that contributed to the peacekeeping operation between 1992 and 1995.

The Australian War Memorial is commemorating the 30th Anniversary of Australia's involvement in Somalia with an exhibition of photos taken during that time. Next week, Somalia veterans will also be marching alongside Governor-General David Hurley - who also served in Somalia - in the Anzac Day parade.

The memorial's exhibition seeks to educate visitors on Australia's involvement in Somalia and highlight the significant contribution Australia has made towards brokering peace in the country.

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"Somalia was Australia's first operational deployment of an infantry battalion since Vietnam. It was significant because it provided important lessons for subsequent peacekeeping missions," Dr Worswick said.

"I think it's important for some of these lesser-known missions to be brought to the public's attention because there are a lot of young Australian men or women who've been involved in these sorts of missions over the last 30 years."

Dr Worswick joined fellow veterans, Australian War Memorial staff and Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Defence Personnel, Matt Keogh at the exhibition on Tuesday.

It followed an announcement that the Australian government had accepted the independent Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal recommendations for unit recognition for Australian Defence Force service in Somalia.

"The Meritorious Unit Citation will recognise the service, contribution and sacrifice made by those ADF members that were deployed in Somalia. I express my deepest gratitude to all those who served," Mr Keogh said.

"Service in Somalia represented the ADF's largest land and sea operation since Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War. I thank the Tribunal for their work and those who have advocated for this unit recognition.

"As we approach Anzac Day I encourage all Australians to acknowledge and pay tribute to all our service personnel who have engaged in conflict, peacekeeping or humanitarian operations, they each embody the spirit of the Anzac."

The exhibition is made up of photos from the collection, which curator Emma White said represents a small fraction of the memorial's 3000 items related to the operation.

"We want to represent the breadth of their experience," Ms White said.

"Australians spent a lot of their time patrolling and doing food and aid distribution and ensuring some security of the food and water that's being distributed because there was a famine in Somalia so that stuff was at risk all the time. So they were operating in a really tense, difficult environment."

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