Call Out to Families: UN Special Service Medal for Australia's Peacekeepers in Indonesia (1947-1951)

Seeking descendants of 65 Australian service members for long-overdue UN recognition

A dedicated campaign has finally achieved a significant victory: the United Nations will formally recognise the service of 65 Australian Defence Force (ADF) officers who served as military observers in Indonesia between 1947 and 1951. These pioneering "peacekeepers," as they would be known today, are eligible for the UN Special Service Medal.

Efforts are now underway to contact the descendants of these Australian servicemen to inform them of this important award and guide them through the claiming process.

The 65 ADF officers—two from the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), 25 from the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and the remainder from the Army—were deployed as part of a UN mission to assess and monitor the truce agreement between The Netherlands and the newly formed Republic of Indonesia. This often-overlooked chapter in Australian military history saw them working alongside observer teams from France, Belgium, the USA, the UK, and the Republic of China.

Though they predated the iconic blue helmets (which came into use in 1956), these ‘military observers’ travelled in jeeps painted white with UNITED NATIONS in big black letters on them.

They were then deployed around Java and Sumatra to monitor the implementation of a truce agreement negotiated by UN representatives, including Australian Justice Richard Kirby.

Over 50,000 people were killed in the fighting, but the observer group only suffered two casualties.  Two unarmed observers, from Britain and the US, were seriously wounded when their jeep was ambushed in early 1949.  They would have been killed had it not been for the bravery of their Dutch escort officer who was armed and who suffered serious bullet wounds himself.

The last ADF member departed Indonesia as the UN mission concluded in early 1951. This mission, the UN's first and arguably one of its most successful, saw Australia play a vital supporting role in the Security Council when the newly formed Republic of Indonesia sought assistance.

Seventy-five years have passed since the UN intervened, and this recognition of the Australian military observer group's service is long overdue.

While contact has been established with a number of families, the majority remain "unfound."

If you are a descendant or know of any family members of ADF personnel who served in Indonesia between 1947 and 1951, please review this list of names:

List: ADF personnel posted to Indonesia in the service of UN 1947-1951

If you know someone on the list, please email: service.un1947to51@gmail.com