The State Government today announced the 10 West Australian secondary students chosen to take part in next year's Premier's ANZAC Student Tour to Malaysia.
Premier Colin Barnett said students would travel to Malaysia in April 2014 to study the liberation of Borneo in 1945; a military intervention in which at least 76 West Australians lost their lives.
"Students will visit key historical and commemorative sites in Labuan and Sabah, before attending ANZAC Day commemorations at Sandakan, where a notorious prisoner of war camp was established in 1942," Mr Barnett said.
Education Minister Peter Collier said the tour was a wonderful opportunity for the young people involved.
"These young people will honour the Australian servicemen and women who have served in the region since World War II," Mr Collier said.
"This tour is all about keeping the ANZAC spirit alive for our younger generations and I'm sure they will find it a profound experience."
Applicants for the tour were asked to write an essay on a conflict or single military action involving Australians, which they thought deserved greater public awareness.
The 10 students were chosen from 445 applications which covered conflicts including World War I actions at Messines Ridge on the Western Front, Australia's role in the North Russian Relief Force and more recent conflicts in Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East.
The tour will be particularly poignant for two students whose family members served in the region.
Bunbury Senior High School's Shakira Moulton wrote about the Indonesian Confrontation for her winning essay, a lesser known conflict which eventually involved Australian troops fighting in North Borneo. Her grandfather, Private Edmund John Moulton, was one of many military police officers stationed in the region at the time.
Mount Lawley Senior High School student Izaak Wesson's great-grandfather Len Phenna served in the region during the Malayan Emergency.
2014 Premier's Anzac Student Tour:
The two teachers selected to accompany the students on tour are Alycia Bermingham from Warnbro Community High School and Steve Heggie from Esperance Senior High School.
Fact File
120 students from 81 schools have been involved in the Premier's ANZAC Student Tour since it started in 2004
Students on past tours have travelled to the Western Front, Turkey, Greece and Malaysia
Premier's office - 6552 5000
Education Minister's office - 6552 6300
