Snowdon thanks WWII diggers at El Alamein

20 Oct 2012, 9:33 pm   -   Source: AAP
Australian WWII veterans will attend the 70th anniversary of the battle of El Alamein in Egypt. (AAP)

Australian WWII veterans will attend the 70th anniversary of the battle of El Alamein in Egypt. (AAP)

A 70th anniversary commemorative service of World War II conflict in northern Africa has seen Australian veterans thanked for their vital contribution.

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In the Egyptian desert where thousands of their comrades died, Australian World War II veterans have been told of the vital role they played in a bloody north African battle.

More than 1000 Australian troops were killed and some 3600 injured during the five-month battle of El Alamein, fought on Egypt's northern coast in 1942.

On Saturday 21 veterans gathered for a ceremony marking 70 years since the costly conflict.

"Here at this place 70 years ago, death and war were inescapable companions," Minister for Veterans' Affairs Warren Snowdon told a gathering of about 200 people at El Alamein's Australian war memorial.

"Today we continue to grieve for those who never made it home. But we also pay tribute to the survivors of that campaign and those who are here with us today. Thank you."

The minister praised the determination and bravery of all Australian troops involved in the north African campaigns on the sand, in the air and at sea.

"The battle was won by the allies largely because the Australians tied up all of Rommel's best troops, enabling the British, New Zealanders, Indians, South Africans, French and Poles to overrun the lesser Italian troops," Mr Snowdon said.

For Army veteran George Mason, 88, Saturday's service was a "fitting tribute" to those Australians who didn't make it home from Egypt.

"I'm very honoured and proud to represent our country, again, in Egypt," the Yarrawonga man said.

Elsewhere in the crowd, silent observer Peter Hudson, from Sydney, attended on behalf of his father, Ern Hudson, who fought at El Alamein, survived, and died "of old age" back in Australia aged 84 in 1995.

"My father would have said 'geez, I'm not going back there' if it was suggested he make a remembrance trip to Egypt," Mr Hudson told AAP.

"But I think it's been the right thing for me to do, to come here on his behalf. He and I were good mates ... and he used to speak to me about his time here during the war."

Chief of the Australian Army Lieutenant General David Morrison explained why troops from Down Under were involved in a mission so far from their home shores.

"Ever since Federation we have sent our young men, and more recently young women ... to preserve the global world order that underpins our safety and security," he said.

"For Australian soldiers, there are no 'other people's wars'."

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