Finally at Rest After Four Interments

On Monday 6 June Warrant Officer Class II Kevin George Conway was finally interred in his home town Cleveland Cemetery 52 years after his death.

As the first Australian soldier to die in combat in Vietnam he was initially buried in South Vietnam. After exhumation he was re-interred at the Ulu Pandan Cemetery in Singapore, then moved to the Kranji War Cemetery in 1975.

Enlisting in 1947, he saw service with Australian War Crimes section in Hong Kong, followed by active service in the Korean War and Malaya before deploying to Vietnam in November 1963 as a military advisor. He died alongside US Special Forces during the Battle of Nam Dong in July 1964, before Australia was officially at war.

Recognising the significance of the final return of this local, highly distinguished serviceman, the Redland City Council refurbished a prominent area within its Cleveland Cemetery as his final resting place. The local RS&L displayed WOII Conway’s medals as part of the related local activity (photo courtesy of Anne-Maree Sankey) Read more at Redland City Bulletin