5RAR presented new Colours by Governor General

Yesterday the Top End community witnessed a rare event – the consecration, dedication and presentation of new Colours for the 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment.

CAPTION: General Sir Peter Cosgrove, Governor General of Australia presents new Colours to 5RAR in Darwin, watched by Major General Mark Kelly, Colonel Commandant of The Royal Australian Regiment. Photo by Private Brendan Austin.

Governor General General Sir Peter Cosgrove and Colonel Commandant of The Royal Australian Regiment Major General Mark Kelly were on hand to present the new Colours to the battalion on Darwin’s Esplanade.

The Colours, which were last presented on 5 June 2008, are the symbol of the military unit and bear the battle honours granted in recognition of gallant deeds performed by its members.

5RAR laid up the old Colours in St Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Cathedral in Darwin today.

The battalion was grateful to the 5RAR Association members who joined them for the parade and to the City of Darwin for their support.

 


 

EDITOR’S NOTE: As a point of interest (or maybe not), this story took me more than an hour to research, after spotting the photo on Facebook. There were no caption details, not mention of the GG or Colonel Commandant being at the event, no press release – and I couldn’t find a single mention of the GG being in Darwin at this event or any other event in Darwin this weekend. In fact, information was so scant – no actually, non-existent – I began to doubt the facts, and had to put a lot of circuitous research into it. Even then, you had to take my word for it – until confirmation came from CONTACT fans (see comments below).

UPDATE2 days after event: Some photos popped up on the Defence Image Library today – but no press release or story to go with them. The ‘deep caption’ supplied with the photos was obviously written before the event, in future tense, and the individual captions offered no new information beyond what I already pieced together above.
Also, I’ve been sent one local newspaper clipping of a single photo, badly captioned, mentioning the GG’s attendance – but still no story or reporting of the actual event.
It beggars belief.

6 days after the event: The video was posted on the Defence web site, with no new information, except per a transcript of interviews, among which CO 5RAR said, “The presentation of colours only occurs once every 25 years or so”.
5RAR was last presented Colours on 5 June 2008!

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Posted by Brian Hartigan

Managing Editor Contact Publishing Pty Ltd PO Box 3091 Minnamurra NSW 2533 AUSTRALIA

7 thoughts on “5RAR presented new Colours by Governor General

  • 02/07/2019 at 11:06 am
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    I was there, it was in the media but no mention of the GG attending. It was his last official visit before retiring yesterday. I can supply photos of him at Gov House and his dinner seat name card! I was GH last week and they kept the dinner table setting. If you want pics i’ll send.

    Reply
  • 03/06/2019 at 10:07 pm
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    My grandfather was a part of this ceremony so it’s nice to see someone covering the event. I’m honestly surprised there hasn’t been greater coverage of the event given how significant it was.

    Reply
    • 03/06/2019 at 11:22 pm
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      Hi Tim. I totally agree that this event didn’t get the coverage it deserved.
      Defence did release some professional photos today – but no press release to go with. The ‘deep caption’ supplied with the photos was obviously written before the event, in future tense, and offer nothing new on what I already pieced together yesterday.
      Good on your Grandfather for attending. I hope he enjoyed it.

      Reply
    • 16/06/2019 at 1:31 pm
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      Hi,
      It would have been good if this event had been advertised more and we were made aware of it. I am a founding Member of 5RAR and was in the Parade at Holsworthy when the Battalion was presented with its original Colors. I was with the Battalion on we first tour of Vietnam as a Section Commander in 11Plt. D Coy 66-67. I have been in Darwin for 3Mths and the first I knew about it was when I seen it in the local Paper. I would have loved to have been and seen the Ceromony while I am up here.
      Regards Daryl Poke.

      Reply
      • 16/06/2019 at 2:38 pm
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        Hi Daryl. It’s a sad state of affairs that you missed this parade. I’ve no idea why this wasn’t publicised (either before or after). It’s a pretty significant event in the history of any Battalion – even more so with the GG in attendance.

        Reply
  • 02/06/2019 at 7:53 pm
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    Can confirm this event took place. But only knew of it on friday due to a short 30sec new brief on the local radio station.

    There may be somthing reported on nine news Darwin or ABC Darwin.

    Reply
    • 02/06/2019 at 7:55 pm
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      Thanks Brentton – that’s a relief to hear 🙂

      Reply

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