Kota Kinabalu: Australian Assistant Defence Minister Matt Thistlethwaite said it was a great honour to visit the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Labuan and see the resting place of thousands of Australians who paid the ultimate sacrifice for defending the Malaya peninsula and Borneo during the war.

“I was really touched by the number of graves there for which we still don’t know the identity of those who perished,” he said, Wednesday. 

To a question by Daily Express, he said, the memories of these fallen Australians are kept alive in its military history taught in schools and universities, starting from the Gallipoli campaign, the first significant battle fought by Australia and New Zealand during World War I.

Matt is here to observe Anzac Day, one of Australia’s most important national occasions to remember all fallen Australian personnel in wars, conflicts, and peace operations since the first Anzac Day commemorations in 1916.