21/06/2025
Today we remember and pay tribute to Major Susan Lee Felsche. A Major in the Australian Army, she was the first Australian woman to die on an overseas military operation since the Second World War - an Army doctor who served not for glory or recognition, but out of a steadfast belief in service, duty, and care.
Major Susan Lee Felsche’s journey ended in the scorching sands of Western Sahara in 1993, but her example continues to resonate across the Australian Defence Force.
Born in Brisbane on 24 March 1961, Susan Lee Stones showed early academic promise. At just 17, she commenced medical studies at the University of Queensland and simultaneously pursued her military calling by enlisting in the Naval Reserve. In 1983, she joined the Australian Army’s undergraduate medical scheme - a pathway that would allow her to combine her twin passions: medicine and the military.
Her early Army postings revealed a tireless work ethic. Whether in garrison clinics or regional hospitals, she worked beyond her postings, taking on civilian shifts in Canberra’s Woden Valley and Calvary hospitals to sharpen her skills. Her professional progression was equally relentless. By 1991, she had become a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners - a remarkable achievement while balancing full-time Army commitments. That same year, she was promoted to Major.
In May 1993, she deployed to the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) as part of the 4th Australian Staff Contingent -Operation Cedilla. It was a harsh, remote posting. Based first at the UN headquarters in Tindouf and later at the isolated Awsard post, some 800 kilometres from command, she endured basic living conditions, treacherous terrain, and the constant threat of landmines. Much of her work involved air travel between scattered team sites, offering medical care to peacekeepers from around the world.
On the morning of 21 June 1993, she boarded a UN aircraft alongside Swiss and Norwegian colleagues for a routine medical visit to the Dougaj team site. Shortly after take-off, the plane veered sharply, nosed down, and crashed. The impact ignited spare fuel tanks. A civilian UN staff member managed to extinguish the flames and pull the injured from the wreckage. Major Felsche was still alive but died later that morning in a Moroccan Army field medical post.
She was 32 years old.
Her body was returned to Australia and laid to rest at Cleveland, Queensland. A military funeral followed a service at Trinity Uniting Church - where she had taught Sunday school for 15 years and married Klaus Felsche, an officer in the Royal Australian Army Educational Corps, five years earlier.
A photograph taken by her husband Klaus, just before she departed for the mission, now forms part of the official Australian War Memorial collection. In it, she stands at the airport in uniform - smiling, composed, and resolute. It captures not only a moment before departure, but the spirit of a woman who gave everything she had, quietly and completely, in the service of others.
Her name endures in official remembrance, but the legacy lives more powerfully in those she cared for, trained, and inspired. She did not seek acclaim. Her vocation was the quiet, often unseen, work of healing - even in the world's most unforgiving corners.
This isn’t just military history.
It’s a story of sacrifice, memory, and the importance of remembrance - even in peace.
Because the cost of service doesn’t only happen on the battlefield.
My deepest condolences to Susans' family, loved ones and all who are feeling the weight of her loss.
Vale Susan. May you rest in eternal peace.
Lest we Forgot
Rod Hutchings
Executive Committee
♻️ Her story - like so many others - deserves a place in our national memory. If you agree, please considering sharing this post, so others can also learn about and appreciate Australia's military history and its members.
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