The first contingent of Australian Police arrive at the Nicosia Airport, Cyprus, to take up duties on the island as part of a United Nations Police Peacekeeping Force, 1964. Five Queensland Police officers were part of this contingent, two of them were Robert Gillespie (front left) and Glen Hallahan (front right).
The Queensland Police Service has always had a strong tradition of supporting overseas deployment of Police to the world’s trouble spots. In 1964, the Australian Government responded quickly to the United Nations request for Civilian Police in Cyprus after violence erupted on the streets. All six Australian states, and both territories supplied officers for Cyprus. All officers were sworn in as seconded members of the Commonwealth Police Force and served as members of the United Nations Police Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).
A United Nations Police Peacekeeping Force, containing members of the Queensland Police contingent, patrol Cyprian streets. Second Australian contingent 1965 – 1966.
The first contingent included five Queensland Police officers. Australian Police keepers were unarmed except when escorting payrolls. Peace keeping generally involved continuous cooperation and liaison with Cyprian Police, and included observation at checkpoints and in sensitive areas, mobile patrols and convoy escorts. It was a dangerous job. The final group of Queensland Police went to Cyrus as part of the seventh contingent between 1970 to 1971. Thirty-nine Queensland Police officers were deployed to serve as members of UNFICYP between 1964 and 1971.
A group of Australian Police in the United Nations Police Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus receive their mail from the Head of the Detachment, Inspector. Third Australian contingent 1966 – 1967. Left to Right: Constable Geoff Page (Qld), Constable Wayne Bartram (TAS); Constable Graham Taylor (ACT); Constable Kon Savchenko-Belsky (Qld); Sergeant Ray McGrath (WA); Eddie Young (VIC); Constable Ron Stubbs (Commonwealth Police); Detective Constable 1/c Anthony Olse (Qld) and Inspector Maurice Stanford (SA)
In December 1969 members of the sixth Australian contingent who served on the UN Cyprus Peace Keeping Mission between 1969 and 1970 were presented with the United Nations Medal by Lieutenant General Ilmare Martola, the Finnish UNFICYP Commander. Front Row L-R: Kevin Carton (Vic – Australian Contingent Commander); Pat Hearn (Vic); John McCaffery (ACT); Harold Darwen (NT); Cyril Magdalinski (Qld); Wally Trenordin (Commonwealth Police); Mike Otley (Tas); Jack Roberts (WA); Colin Creek (SA); John Cumming (Vic)
Today Queensland Police officers, as seconded members of Australia Federal Police, have proven their metal under very hostile and dangerous conditions in places such as East Timor and the Solomon Islands, and have won international recognition for their peace keeping work in these troubled communities
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This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing.
The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the ground floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
Policing Foreign Shores: Cyprus 1964 by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode… Continue reading