Embedded Files
Aboriginal soldier Sapper Herbert Murray (center) on the Western Front in 1917. (https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/aboriginal-servicemen-who-fought-world-war-i)
Introduction
Introduction
The outbreak of the First World War thrust European powers into combat with one another. By August of 1914, Britain was pulled into the war through a pact with Belgium that had insured British intervention if Belgium were to be invaded. When the Germans marched through Belgium on their path to Paris the British declared war on Germany, thus beginning their participation. Needless to say, the British Commonwealth Nations were also dragged into this conflict, one of those nations being Australia. Men had enlisted in service upon the beginning of the war, had fought valiantly against the Germans, Turks, and Austrian-Hungarians, and those who returned home were viewed as heroes for taking part in such horrific combat. Often, those forgotten by their fellow country men, if not historians who study the subject, are Indigenous Australians. These men had volunteered as had their white counterparts, seen the horrible conditions that were taking place, but were ultimately ignored when returning home. On this page, those men who fought in Western Europe and on the beaches of Gallipoli will be remembered. This page will cover aspects of enlistment and training; the Western Front and how these Aboriginal servicemen found themselves fighting in France; the contributions to the Gallipoli campaign that aboriginal servicemen had made; and the how service in the First World War had impacts after soldiers returned home
Enlistment
Enlistment
The voluntary enlistment of Aboriginal Soldiers in the First World War is an interesting topic in itself. The Australian constitution did not recognize Aboriginal peoples as citizens of the country and would not do so until 2013 (Broome 375: 2019). Moreover, the 1909 defence act included a discriminatory policy when it came to the enlistment process. This includes the justification of rejection of those who do not have ‘European descent’ (Broome 175: 2019). However, some men were ultimately accepted despite the clause in the defense act as they previously had some type of qualification that allowed them to be accepted into service. Some of these men may have been laborers and their skills could be used in battle. Later, in 1917, the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) changed regulations to allow men who were mixed race to enlist. (Horton 203: 2015). Men who were of mixed race did their best at attempting to enlist and serve in the military. Some mixed race men attempted to bypass rejection based on race by identifying as white by claiming Southern European descent (Scarlett 2015, 166). Acceptance of enlistment depended on where one had lived or volunteered as well. The state of Western Australia was harsh when considering the ‘racial fitness’ of a person enlisting and adhered to the 1909 Defence Act strictly (Huggonson 353; 1989). The decision of Aboriginal Soldiers to fight came from many different perspectives and each person had their reason to enlist. Many men had enlisted based on the pay they would receive for their service. Huggonson notes that soldiers could make “42 shillings a week” which was a substantial increase from what they were making working elsewhere due to employment discrimination (Huggonson 354: 1989). Other servicemen were swept up by the same romanticization of war that influenced white males to join the cause and fight for their country (Huggonson 354: 1989). Service in war was also justified by those who enlisted and fought as a way to prove their equality to white Australians, these men would hope to return and be accepted and equal to whites (Huggonson 353: 1989).
11th Battalion marching out of Blackboy Hill Training Camp (http://roadtowarandback.blogspot.com/2013/08/blackboy-hill-is-calling.html)
The Western Front: Lewis Collard
The Western Front: Lewis Collard
The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC shortened) had fought in Western Europe throughout the course of the First World War, and in some cases Aboriginal Australians were present in the fighting as well. Many Aborginal men from Western Australia were sent to France to fight against the German enemy. One such example of an Aboriginal Soldier who fought battles in western Europe is Private Lewis Collard, a man of white and Aboriginal descent, who would see action in the Third Battle of Ypres also known as the Battle of Passchendaele (Aboriginal History WA and the Western Australian Museum 99: 2019). Collard had enlisted in Bunbury Western Australia after completing his medical examination in October of 1916. After dealing with illness upon recruitment, Collard was placed in the 9th Training Battalion in March of 1917. From there he would proceed to France on September 10th and a little over a month later, in October of 1917, he would join his unit (Aboriginal History WA and the Western Australian Museum 99: 2019). The Battle of Passchendaele was the third and final battle that had taken place as part of the Ypres offensive which spanned from 1914-1917, which Collard would have been part of later in the war. The First Battle of Ypres was an allied success in that the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) had succeeded in closing the gap between the French army and the coast, effectively closing the front line facing east (Keegan 355: 1998). In the Second Battle of Ypres the BEF had lost ground due to a gas attack by the Germans, yet they were able to maintain a line in front of the city (Keegan 335: 1998). In the Battle of Passchendaele, the German military was waiting to attack in an counter-offensive against the British forces, but in order to do so would most likely need a U-Boat victory for what John Keegan calls a “strategic shift of balance” (Keegan 355: 1998). The British had realized the potential repercussions of a U-Boat Victory by the Germans at this point and decided to move against the Germans before this could happen. Then, on the 7th of June, 1917, 3rd ANZAC and 8 other divisions moved forward (Keegan 356: 1998).
From these dates, which align with Collard’s enlistment, he would have been with the Australian 3rd division as the dates of his enlistment and the divisions service dates in battle match each other. Collard had met with his unit the exact same day as the ANZAC division was ordered to attack: the 12th of October, 1917 (Aboriginal History WA and the Western Australian Museum 99: 2019; Keegan 367: 1998). However, the use of ANZAC forces in this battle is quite upsetting. The BEF had become weakened by the previous months fighting that Douglass Haig, commander of the offensive, had turned to the 3rd Anzac division who had been spared from previous months fighting as well as the horrors of the Somme (Keegan 367: 1998). The ANZACs main goal was to reach the village of Passchendaele where the Germans had positioned their trenches and machine gun nests. Upon securing the position the British and Allies would face no obstacles to the German rear. (Keegan 367: 1998). However the German machine guns proved a great obstacle to ANZAC advance both in a frontal and flanking attack that they were forced to retreat. Furthermore the weather conditions on the day of attack were horrendous. Muddy ground and pouring rain meant that in some cases German Artillery shells buried themselves in the ground creating a what could be though of as a minefield near allied trenches. Retreating ANZAC forces would be killed or wounded trying to cross back to safety, and Australians New Zealanders suffered 3,000 casualties attempting to get to their trenches (Keegan 367: 1998). Collard would be lucky enough not to be included in the numbers lost in this offensive. He was discharged from service on November 5th, 1919. He would marry Maud Lockett on January 27th, 1921 and have five children. He would work as a Clearing contractor and a trapper in the 1940s. Collard passed at the age of 78, on March 25th 1972, in Riverton Western Australia and is buried in the Karrakatta Cemetery (Aboriginal History WA and the Western Australian Museum 99: 2019).
Movement of the Hindenburg line from September to October of 1918. Includes 3rd Australian Division movements on October 2nd. (https://ayearofwar.com/2018/10/04/ww1-war-diary-western-front-hindenburg-line-breached/)
Private Larry Farmer. (https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/84281)
Gallipoli: Larry Farmer
Gallipoli: Larry Farmer
Gallipoli and the service of ANZAC soldiers in the campaign became a point of national pride in Australia. Australians celebrate the bravery and sacrifice of the soldiers who served in the Ottoman front, even men from an Aboriginal background. One example of such is Larry Farmer who was a man of full Aboriginal descent. Farmer enlisted in the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) on March 13th 1915. Before enlistment he had been a talented football player, and had worked as a laborer in the timber industry (Department of Aboriginal Affairs Community Development Directorate 12: 2015). As previously mentioned, Farmer’s involvement in labor and sports could have played an important role in his acceptance into service. Since both his parents were of Aboriginal descent it is likely that without such outside qualifications he would have been rejected completely. He had completed his training at Blackboy Hill and joined the 28th battalion on April 16th 1915. (Department of Aboriginal Affairs Community Development Directorate 12: 2015). After his training he was sent to the Gulf of Suez and later transferred to Gallipoli in Turkey. He had arrived on September 8th, where he had encountered terrible conditions and the health of the soldiers there. (Department of Aboriginal Affairs Community Development Directorate 12: 2015). The Gallipoli campaign suffered greatly from military logistics complications from the very beginning. The landing forces were met with sea mines near the port which meant that War Ships could not get close enough to shell Ottoman positions making it safe for soldiers to land, and the minesweeper ships that effectively did their duty were met with more mines the next day. This problem became such a major issue that the solution was to let the ships get as close as possible to shore, then have men row themselves the rest of the way to shore. The motive behind such an offensive was to remove the Ottoman from the war in the south, then link with Russian allies and relieve some of the pressures they had been facing (Keegan 236: 1998).
ANZAC forces were taken from Egypt where they had been stationed in order to create a greater force for the British attack. The ANZAC landing location was Cape Hells which would later be named ANZAC cove (Keegan 242: 1998). However, due to yet another logistics problem, the boats carrying soldiers to the cove would land around a mile north of where they were supposed to. The landing spot the ANZACS had landed at resembles an amphitheater, and ANZAC troops had to make their way up to the high ground as quickly as possible or their position would be compromised. However, due to the harsh terrain, the Turkish forces dismissed an ANZAC landing at this particular point (Keegan 243: 1998). Nonetheless, the overall fighting that took place at Gallipoli was horrible. Since the Allies were fighting an uphill battle and trench warfare at the same time they had suffered around 300,000 casualties in battle at Gallipoli and ultimately had to retreat. However, Farmer notes such loss of life writing “The sight of the injured troops altered them to the daunting situation ahead” (Department of Aboriginal Affairs Community Development Directorate 12: 2015). While Farmer would safely make it out of Gallipoli, he was later transported to France in 1916. Here, such views Farmer had on war would become true for him. Farmer was killed in battle between the 4th and 6th of August. He is memorialized at the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, and the Australian War Memorial in Canberra (Department of Aboriginal Affairs Community Development Directorate 12: 2015).
Map of ANZAC landings near at ANZAC cove on the 29th of April (Bernie's Chapter - TEN LIVES (unbgreatwar.ca)
Returning Home
Returning Home
After four years of brutal conflict across the European continent WWI finally ended with an armistice on November 11, 1918. While men who returned home faced a changed society, Aboriginal Soldiers had still felt the effects of discrimination. Private Collard, who had been involved with the horrors of the Third Ypres offensive, faced such discrimination in 1922. He had applied for 1,015 acres of land – most likely through the veterans land grant program – in Dwarda which he was approved for, but later was rejected. He would try again for even more land, 2,077 acres, in 1925 and would be approved this time. However sometime later the land was forfeited due to “non-compliance with conditions” (Aboriginal History WA and the Western Australian Museum 99: 2019). In addition, many Aboriginal Servicemen were placed on missions after the war and many white Australians based this treatment on the “fear of empowerment” that service in the war could be associated with. (Scarlett 174: 2015). This empowerment that many servicemen had used as a reason to enlist and fight in the war was shot down in later post-war government decisions. In 1939, Prime Minister John McEwen, announced that Aboriginal Australians were to be “Educated for full citizenship” (Huggonson 355: 1898). Such a statement becomes discriminatory in that it communicates that Aboriginal Australians are not eligible to be citizens due to either their lack of education which is reinforced by further discriminatory policies; or that there is something that must be changed about Aboriginal Australians in order for them to be granted citizens, perhaps abandoning their culture. This vague statement about the education of Aboriginal people is followed by even greater discrimination. Even though having proved themselves in combat in what is known as the “war to end all wars” Aboriginal people were not extended the opportunity to join volunteer service or militias (Huggonson 355: 1898). Even though Aboriginal Servicemen had sacrificed the same as their white countrymen, they returned home to still face discrimination and vague statements about their citizenship by the Government.
Additional Information on Aboriginal ANZACs in WWI
Additional Information on Aboriginal ANZACs in WWI
Sources Used
Sources Used
Acknowledging Western Australian Aboriginal Men in World War I”. Welshpool, Western Australia: Western Australia Museum.
Departmentment of Aboriginal Affairs Community Development Directorate, and Aborigianl History Research Unit. 2018. “The Served with Honour: Untold stories of Western Australian Aboriginal Servicemen at Gallipoli. Welshpool, Western Australia: Western Australia Museum.
Horton, Jessica. 2015. “Willing to Fight to a Man: the First World War and Aboriginal Activism in the Western District of Victoria.” Aboriginal History 39: 203-222.
Huggenson, David. 1989. “The Dark Diggers of the AIF.” The Australian Quarterly 61(3): 352-357.
Keegan, John. 1998. The First World War. New York, NY: Vintage Books.
Scarlette, Philippa. 2015. “Aboriginal service in the First World War: Identity, recognition and the problem of mateship.” Aboriginal History 39: 163-181.
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