The International Force East Timor (INTERFET) Medal

 

Peace Keeping Services In East Timor 1999 - 2000.

 

Further relevant historical context can be found at the foot of this entry.

 

 

The International Force East Timor (INTERFET) Medal was an Australian campaign medal presented for service in East Timor. The medal was instituted in March 2000, and was presented to members of the Australian Defence Force as well as the supporting forces of 16 other nations - including the United Kingdom - who served for 30 days (or 30 sorties) in East Timor, or off shore to a distance of 12 nautical miles between 16 September 1999 and 10 April 2000, during the East Timor peace keeping campaign.

 

 

The medal is circular, 38mm in diameter and was struck in pewter coloured silver. The obverse of this medal depicts the raised outline of a dove holding an olive branch, as a symbol of peace superimposed on a textured map of East Timor and Territories with the inscription; ‘INTERNATIONAL FORCE EAST TIMOR’ surrounding it.

 

The medal is surmounted by a Federation Star.

 

The reverse is plain but contains a central space where the recipients details can be found pantographed in capital letters along with the inscription; ‘TOGETHER AS ONE FOR PEACE IN EAST TIMOR’.

 

The ribbon suspender is of a straight and non-swivelling style struck with the actual medal.

 

 

 

The ribbon is 32mm wide and has a central red stripe, flanked by stripes of green, white and pale blue. The white, green and blue stripes represent the Navy, Army and Air Force, with dual representation of white for peace, blue for the sea surrounding East Timor and green for the re-growth of a new nation. The central red stripe represents the turbulent past of East Timor.

 

 

None were authorised for this medal.

 

 

 

* It should be noted that the values quoted above reflect the average price that a medal dealer may expect to sell this medal for - please see the ‘things you should know’ web page for more details about valuing medals.

 

 

This section contains information on:-

 

- INTERFET.

 

INTERFET - The International Force for East Timor (INTERFET) was a multi-national non-United Nations peacekeeping taskforce, organized and led by Australia in accordance with United Nations resolutions to address the humanitarian and security crisis which took place in East Timor from 1999 - 2000 until the arrival of U.N. peacekeepers.

 

INTERFET was commanded by an Australian, Major General Peter Cosgrove.

 

The International Forces East Timor (INTERFET) coalition began deploying to East Timor on 20 September 1999, as a non-UN force operating in accordance with UN Resolutions. Led by Australia, who contributed 5,500 personnel and the force commander, Major General Peter Cosgrove, it was tasked with restoring peace and security, protecting and supporting UNAMET, and facilitating humanitarian assistance.

 

While 9 ships initially served the area, the fleet's number varied over time. The Royal Australian Navy deployed a total of 16 ships to the taskforce including: HMAS Adelaide, HMAS Anzac, HMAS Balikpapan, HMAS Brunei, HMAS Darwin, HMAS Farncomb, HMAS Jervis Bay, HMAS Labuan, HMAS Success, HMAS Sydney, HMAS Tarakan, HMAS Tobruk, HMAS Waller, HMAS Westralia, HMAS Newcastle, and HMAS Melbourne.

 

The fleet was further supplemented by the New Zealand ships HMNZS Canterbury, HMNZS Endeavor, HMNZS Te Kaha as well as ships from other countries including the Portuguese NRP Vasco da Gama, British HMS Glasgow, Canadian Armed Forces HMCS Protecteur (AOR509) and American USS Belleau Wood, USS Mobile Bay, and the USS Peleliu.

 

The lead up to the operation remained politically and militarily tense. Australia re-deployed frontline combat aircraft - F/A-18s and F-111s - northward to act as a deterrent against escalation of the conflict by the Indonesian military. An Indonesian submarine was detected by Coalition surveillance within the vicinity of Dili Harbour as INTERFET forces approached. While the intervention was ultimately successful, Australian–Indonesian relations would take several years to recover.

 

Most UNAMET (United Nations Mission in East Timor) personnel, as well as Indonesian military, police and administrators had already been evacuated from the region in the preceding months by the Royal Australian Air Force and other allied air forces, including the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

 

With the withdrawal of the Indonesian forces and officials, UNAMET re-established its headquarters in Dili on 28 September and on 19 October 1999, Indonesia formally recognised the result of the independence referendum. Soon after, the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) was established as a peacekeeping operation which was also fully responsible for the administration of East Timor to oversee its transition to independence.

 

The arrival of thousands of international troops in East Timor caused the militia to flee across the border into Indonesia. Sporadic cross-border raids by the militia against INTERFET forces, particularly in the southern border held by the New Zealand Army, led to suspicion that the militia had the tacit support of the Indonesian military. Such suspicion increased following a major contact at Aidabasalala, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the West Timor border, on 16 October 1999.

 

The action, involving an Australian covert reconnaissance patrol from the Special Air Service Regiment saw the Australians repeatedly attacked in a series of fire-fights by a group of more than 20 militia. The SASR patrol had been detected whilst establishing an observation post and were forced to fight their way to a landing zone, being attacked a further three times over a one-and-a-half hour period, killing a number of their attackers before they were successfully extracted by Black Hawk helicopter.

 

Five militia members were killed and three wounded, whilst there were no Australian casualties. Later, intelligence reports speculated on the involvement of Indonesian military personnel in the attempt to cut off and destroy the Australians, whilst conjecture as to the identity of the pro-Indonesian militias and the source of their arms and training increased in the media.

 

On 28 February 2000, INTERFET handed over command of military operations to UNTAET (United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor).

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.