page_title: Australian contribution to UNTAG
section_title: The Australian contingent and UNTAG
hierarchical_section_title: Australian contribution to UNTAG / The Australian contingent and UNTAG
caption_attribution_description: English: Members of the 1st Australian Services Contingent (1 ASC) Headquarters Chief Engineer UNTAG being awarded their United Nations medal by Lieutenant-General Dewan Prem Chand at a parade at the UNTAG Headquarters in Suiderhof, Windhoek Namibia in 1989. From right to left: Major John Hutchings, Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Pippard, Warrant Officer Class 2 Peter Bruce, Lieutenant-General Dewan Prem Chand, Colonel Richard Warren and Sergeant Steven Lavery.
context_page_description: The Australian Services Contingent was the Australian Army contribution to the United Nations Transition Assistance Group peacekeeping mission to Namibia in 1989 and 1990. Australia sent two contingents of over 300 engineers each to assist the Special Representative of the Secretary General, Martti Ahtisaari, in overseeing free and fair elections in Namibia for a Constituent Assembly in what was the largest deployment of Australian troops since the Vietnam War.
  The Australian mission was widely reported as successful. Colonel John Crocker, commander of the second Australian contingent, wrote that the November 1989 election was UNTAG's raison d'être and observed that "the Australian contingent's complete and wide-ranging support was critical to the success of that election and hence the mission – a fact that has been acknowledged at the highest level in UNTAG". Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Secretary-General of the United Nations, wrote to Gareth Evans about the "remarkable contribution made by the Australian military and electoral personnel", saying that their "dedication and professionalism had been widely and deservedly praised".
caption: Members of the first Australian contingent Headquarters Chief Engineer UNTAG being awarded their UN medal by Lieutenant General Dewan Prem Chand at a parade at the UNTAG Headquarters in Suiderhof, Windhoek, Namibia in 1989. Left to right: Major John Hutchings, Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Pippard, Warrant Officer Class 2 Peter Bruce, Lieutenant General Dewan Prem Chand, Colonel Richard Warren and Sergeant Steven Lavery
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