 | Fleet Air Arm |
| Fleet Air Arm |
The the recent major change to the Fleet Air Arm Wall of Service at Nowra is the addition of the Australian Naval Aviation Roll of Honour. This has been added in the form of bronze plaques on the south-facing inner wall and it has also been named with a separate large plaque. The individual plaques are of similar size to those on the Wall of Service but to have a simple cross and the details of the person added.
It will be noted that those named in the Roll come from all walks of life - civilians, reservists and other Services but all have one common denominator - they died in Australian naval aviation accidents.
The proposal was considered by the Association's National Executive when it was submitted by Greg Wise and they designated Toz Dadswell and Greg Wise to develop a list of those people who had died in the service of naval aviation since its inception. Again there were strict guidelines drawn up and every nomination was tested against these.
It was found there were many who were on different lists that had been produced over the years but finally a list was produced, verified, checked and re-checked to ensure it was consistent with the guidelines. It was then submitted to the Association's National Executive for approval.
Because the site of the memorial garden and Wall of Service is now back in the ownership of the Navy, joint discussions were undertaken and it was decided that the dedication and opening of the Honour Roll would be incorporated into the Remembrance Day service held at HMAS Albatross on 11 November 2009.
The Honour Roll was officially dedicated and opened by the President of the FAAAA (David Farthing) and the Chief of the Fleet Air Arm (Cdre A. Dalton) at 1100 on 11 November 2009. A large contingent of FAAAA members and serving RAN personnel attended.
It is anticipated that Remembrance Day will be celebrated at this site each year as the complete complex is a dedication to ex-FAA personnel - the memorial garden has been consecrated and the ashes of ex-FAA personnel are scattered there.
This list of names has been accepted as qualified to be on the Roll of Honour at the present time (PDF file, 16 kb, requires the Acrobat Reader on your computer).
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