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Category: Indigenous |
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If
your belief is that viewing photos of a deceased person is disrespectful, bad, wrong or
shameful please move off this page, now. |
Wangaratta,
Vic. 1940-12.
Aboriginal soldiers from the special platoon consisting of aboriginal
soldiers, all volunteers, at Number 9 Camp at Wangaratta. V85813 Major
Joseph Albert (Bert) Wright, a World War 1 Light Horse veteran, was in
charge of this Platoon, which was the only all-Aboriginal squad in the AMF
(Australian Military Forces). (Donor S. Clarke) >>>>>>>
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See the Reg
Saunders MBE page. |
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1940-09.
Somewhere at sea. Sergeant Reg Saunders - the
aboriginal soldier is held in excellent regard by both officers and men,
and is one of the smartest men in the company. (negative by R.
Williams).
Reg Saunders was born in 1920, in
Purnum, Victoria, near the Framlingham Aboriginal Reserve. He came from
a long line of soldiers. Both his father and his uncle served in the
First World War. His uncle, Wm. Reg
Rawlings, for whom he was named, received a Military Medal for action at
Morlancourt Ridge, France. Rawlings was killed in action at Vauvillers,
in 1918 >> |
Wm. Reg Rawlings MM |
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Seymour, Vic. 1944-11-25.
Lieutenant R. W. Saunders, 2/7th
Infantry Battalion (1), receives his stars from Lieutenant General J.
Northcott (3), during the graduation ceremony of course No. 14 held at
the Infantry Wing, Officer Cadet Training Unit Seymour, Lieutenant Saunders
was the first aboriginal to obtain a commission in the Australian
forces. At the background stands Lieutenant Colonel J.A. Wilmoth,
Commandant (2). |
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Seymour, Vic. 1944-11-25.
Lt T.C. Derrick, VC DCM (right) shaking hands with Lt R.W. Saunders
(left), as they congratulate each other following their successful
graduation from the Officer Cadet Training Unit at Seymour. Lieutenant Saunders
was the first aboriginal commissioned in the Australian army. |
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Captain
(Capt) Reg Saunders (right), commander of C
Company, 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR), shakes
hands with a member of K Company, 19th Regimental Combat Team (RCT), 6th
Republic of Korea (ROK) Infantry Division, which has just arrived on
Salmon to relieve 3RAR. A few days after the handover, the ROK troops
abandoned the hill when Chinese forces attacked. Capt Saunders was the
first Aboriginal serviceman to command a rifle company. (Donor I.
Robertson) |
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Northwest
Australia. 1943-02-01.
To provide fresh meat for allied soldiers in the north west area the
army established its own slaughter yards, cooling chambers and delivery
system about 10 miles north of Katherine. Butchers from the army resumed
civil occupation, on army pay, and aboriginal labour was used to bring
the cattle into the slaughter yards from widely dispersed areas. Three
of the aboriginal stockmen are shown here, from the left they are, Bobby
of the Alligator tribe, Paddy of the Myall tribe and John Buckley (12
years old) of the Alligator tribe. (negative by H.
Turner). |
Some (an unknown number) of aboriginal soldiers served
in the first AIF. Many aboriginals hid or tried to hide their ethnic
origin, claiming to be Maori or Islander in an attempt to avoid the bureaucracy
that wanted to "protect" them and the contempt of some (only
some) white
Australians who looked down on "Abos" but not (to the same
degree) on other dark skinned
races. |
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"Remembering
the Aboriginal people who served in the Australian forces"
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This memorial is on public land - at the base of
Mount Ainslie behind the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, ACT. It was
placed there by a local non-Aboriginal citizen several years ago.
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"THE COLOURED DIGGER"
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He came and joined the colours, when the
War God's anvil rang,
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He took up modern weapons to replace his
boomerang,
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He waited for no call-up, he didn't need
a push,
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He came in from the stations, and the
townships of the bush.
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He helped when help was wanting, just
because he wasn't deaf;
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He is right amongst the columns of the
fighting A.I.F.
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He is always there when wanted, with his
Owen gun or Bren,
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He is in the forward area, the place
where men are men.
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He proved he's still a warrior, in action
not afraid,
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He faced the blasting red hot fire from
mortar and grenade;
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He didn't mind when food was low, or we
were getting thin,
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He didn't growl or worry then, he'd cheer
us with his grin.
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He'd heard us talk democracy--, They
preach it to his face--
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Yet knows that in our Federal House
there's no one of his race.
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He feels we push his kinsmen out, where
cities do not reach,
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And Parliament has yet to hear the Abo's
maiden speech.
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One day he'll leave the Army, then join
the League he shall,
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Unidentified WW1
aboriginal servicemen |
(By Sapper Bert Beros, a
non-Aboriginal soldier in WW2, about an Aboriginal
soldier, Private West).
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Aboriginal
serviceman, Corporal Harry Thorpe MM. Thorpe was born at the lake Tyers
Mission Station, near sale, Victoria. He enlisted at Sale 1916-02-12,
embarked in April and joined the 7th battalion in France 1916-07. He was
wounded in action at Pozieres in 1916 and Bullecourt in 1917. In 1917-01
he was promoted to Lance Corporal. On the night of 1917-10-4/5 Thorpe
was conspicuous for his courage and leadership during operations at Broodseinde,
near Ypres, in Belgium. For his 'splendid example' he was promoted to
Corporal and awarded the Military Medal, although the original
recommendation from his unit was for the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
During the advance 1918-08-09 at Lihons Wood, south-west of Vauvillers, France,
a stretcher bearer found Thorpe shot in the stomach. He died shortly
after and is buried in the Heath Cemetery, Harbonnieres, France, with
his friend William Rawlings, another aborigine who won the Military
Medal, and was also killed on the same day. (donor
A Jackomos) |
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1970.
Studio portrait of 2791899 Private Gilbert Green, an aboriginal national
serviceman who served in Vietnam 1970 as a rifleman with 7th Battalion,
the Royal Australian Regiment (7RAR). (donor
G. Green) |
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Borneo,
c. 1945. Private Victor McRae, an aboriginal serviceman (back row right
side). (lent by H. Gibbs) |
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Goodooga,
NSW, 1944. Private John Drought Bishop, an aboriginal serviceman, beside
the Bokhara River. (lent by H. Gibbs) |
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Private
Jack Wallace, an aboriginal serviceman from the Second World War. (lent
by J. Cooper) |
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Private
Frank Williams, 8th Division, an aboriginal serviceman who died working
on the Burma Thailand railway. (lent
by G. Williams) |
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Hiro,
Japan, 1947. Qx28023 Sergeant Ken Maynard, 66th Battalion, an aboriginal
serviceman. (lent by C Johnston) |
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Camp
Casey, South Korea. 1953-03. Private Steve Dodd, an aboriginal
serviceman of 1 Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR). (donor
D. Thomson) |
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1916.
Studio portrait of 5435 Private William Joseph Punch, 1st Battalion, an
aboriginal station hand born in Queensland, who enlisted 31 December
1915 in Goulburn, NSW (where he had been raised as a child). He died of
pneumonia in England 1917-08-29, aged 37. (donor:
K. Short) |
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C.
1916. Portrait of Private S. Cunningham, an aboriginal serviceman of the
first world war. (donor G. Ardler) |
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Aboriginal
soldier 370 Private Reginald Francis Hawkins, 6 Company, 42nd Battalion,
twenty three years old, a station hand from Jericho, Queensland, who was
captured at Armentieres on 1917-02-16. Private Hawkins is the brother of
the Roughrider (horse-breaker) Harry Hawkins of 2nd Remount Unit. note . . .this is an extract from the AWM site. As there
was no 6 Company I suspect that the reference is a typo. Either 6 Platoon
or B Coy. Hawkins gets a special mention here because
he served with my Dad in the 42nd Bn. |
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