People You Meet - Brigadier David McCammon, DSM and BAR Attending ANZAC Day Service

Can you please give us a little of your background?

I joined the Army Reserves straight out of school in 1994, joining the regular army in 1996. Since then, I’ve served in NZ, the UK, most of Australia, Iraq, Afghanistan, East Timor, Cosivo, with time in Townsville and Darwin. I’m currently based in Canberra, but live just across the border in NSW.

What does DSM and Bar stand for?

It is for Distinguished Service Medal. The Bar means I’ve been awarded it twice. I was awarded DSM in Afghanistan in 2009, and in Iraq in 2016.

Does being in the war, within the forces, make you jaded?

Not at all. Each place is a different experience; sometimes it can be the very worst of times, but parts of it can be the very best of times. You end up working with really close-knit teams and communities. There can be many good experiences.

What made you choose to come to Norfolk Island for ANZAC Day?

When I was doing my handover with my predecessor last year, he mentioned he tried to get here, but it didn’t happen, so I wrote it in my notebook. When I was looking at ANZAC Day, I thought what an amazing opportunity to see a cadet unit that’s doing great things and a community that I wouldn’t normally see. I’ve only been here 24 hours, but it’s been amazing. I was saying this morning, on the radio, that the strength of this community is great.

A lot of Norfolk Islanders served in the war, a great percentage when you consider how many people were living here at the time.

ANZAC Day is always special and the older I get, the more meaningful it seems to become. The thing I notice the most is from such a small community, there were many who have served from here. We went down yesterday to look at the memorial and it’s a great honour to be here. 2025 is the 110^th anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli, adding to the significance of it.

Tomorrow you’re going to be the reviewing officer, what does that entail?

It’s an age-old tradition, the Reviewing Officer inspects troops before they go off to battle and that’s effectively morphed into ANZAC Day, where you acknowledge those that serve and have served. I’m looking forward to the ANZAC Day ceremonies. I will be at the Dawn Service, and I believe I’ll be laying a wreath at the cenotaph.

I got here yesterday and took part in the Kapyong Service at the RSL and I couldn’t believe how many people turned up for that. Kapyong was a very famous battle in Korea and it was incredible to see so many people attending, which again, shows how strong the community is.

Can you tell us a little bit about it?

It was an incredible, amazing battle. The Chinese came to retake Seoul and they were coming north to south. The South Korean army collapsed under the pressure of the Chinese. The Commonwealth Brigade, which was made up of an Australian battalion, a Canadian battalion , a British battalion and the New Zealand artillery, come up and occupy the high ground. They held the Chinese there and stopped Seoul being lost to the communists. They talked about it yesterday, but it’s hard to imagine the intensity of that fight. There were thousands of Chinese, their positions were overrun, and they were fighting hand-to-hand in their trenches. Prisoners were taken and they finished on the dawn of ANZAC Day. Interestingly, one of the companies in the third battalion, the company commander at that time was a guy named Reg Saunders. Reg was the first indigenous person to be commissioned in the end of the second world war. To see Kapyong recognised here was fantastic.

Thank you so much for talking to me, I appreciate it. What are your plans until you leave on Sunday?

My wife Elise and I wish to cram in as much as possible in the short time we are here. We had some great local fish last night. Interestingly, my Grandparents used to visit Norfolk Island all the time. My grandma is 106 now, and she was pretty excited I was coming here.