Australia — Private Bewes returns home

Pri­vate Nathan Bewes returned home today to be met by his fam­i­ly, loved ones and mates from Bris­bane based 6th Bat­tal­ion, The Roy­al Aus­tralian Reg­i­ment (6RAR) in a solemn and dig­ni­fied cer­e­mo­ny at RAAF Base Amber­ley.

The hon­our guard salutes as Pri­vate Nathan Bewes is car­ried to a wait­ing Aus­tralian C‑130J Her­cules dur­ing a mov­ing ramp cer­e­mo­ny held at Al Min­had Air Base, Unit­ed Arab Emi­rates. Source: Aus­tralian Depart­ment of Defence Click to enlarge

Chief of Defence Force Air Chief Mar­shal Angus Hous­ton, and the Act­ing Chief of Army Major Gen­er­al Paul Symon AO salute the cas­ket of Pri­vate Nathan Bewes as it is car­ried through the hon­our gau­rd. Source: Aus­tralian Depart­ment of Defence Click to enlarge

An hon­our guard and bear­er par­ty was formed by 6RAR to receive and car­ry the cas­ket from the C‑17 Globe­mas­ter air­craft to his family. 

Act­ing Chief of Army, Major Gen­er­al Paul Symon expressed his deep­est sym­pa­thies to the fam­i­ly of Pri­vate Bewes. 

“This cer­e­mo­ny pays the ulti­mate respect befit­ting a sol­dier who has fall­en dur­ing mil­i­tary ser­vice, he is now back on home soil,” said Major Gen­er­al Symon. 

“Pri­vate Bewes was a capa­ble sol­dier and valu­able mem­ber of his Bat­tal­ion, who was on his sec­ond tour to Afghanistan. 

“In five years this young man packed a lot into his young life, he is an extra­or­di­nary sym­bol of the qual­i­ty of the young sol­diers we have today. 

“The fam­i­ly of Pri­vate Bewes can be very proud of the achieve­ments of this fine young soldier. 

“The best trib­ute that the sol­diers can give to Nathan is to keep focussed on oper­a­tions and con­tin­ue their good work because that is what sol­diers do and the Army fam­i­ly will always be there for them.” 

Min­is­ter for Defence, Sen­a­tor The Hon. John Faulkn­er; Shad­ow Par­lia­men­tary Sec­re­tary for Defence and Mem­ber for Fad­den, Stu­art Robert MP rep­re­sent­ing the Shad­ow Min­is­ter for Defence, Sen­a­tor The Hon. David John­ston; The Chief of Defence Force, Air Chief Mar­shal Angus Hous­ton; Act­ing Chief of Army, Major Gen­er­al Paul Symon, Com­man­der 7th Brigade, Brigadier Paul McLach­lan were in attendance. 

Media Note:
The fam­i­ly of Pri­vate Bewes request that media con­tin­ue to observe their pri­va­cy dur­ing this dif­fi­cult time. 

Media Con­tact:
Defence media liai­son (02) 6127 1999 

Press release
Min­is­te­r­i­al Sup­port and Pub­lic Affairs,
Depart­ment of Defence,
Can­ber­ra, Australia