Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Australia, Interfet Medal (A230631 D. M. Dawson) extremely fine and scarce £200-300

Awarded for 30 days service with the International Force East Timor.

Following the vote on self-determination of 30 August 1999, there were a series of attacks throughout Timor by militias created, trained and directed by the Indonesian military. The International Force East Timor (INTERFET) was the United Nations-mandated multinational force formed to address the deteriorating humanitarian and security situation.

INTERFET troops entered Timor in September 1999 under the command of Australian Defence Force officer Major-General Peter Cosgrove, before the handover to the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) in March 2000.

The ADF component of INTERFET was named Operation Stabilise – an operation that was a major turning in transforming Australian policy on intervention in neighbouring states, and a precursor to other ADF operations in Solomon Islands and Tonga.