This is the text of an address given by the president of the Phillip Island RSL, Tom Mallaghan (above) on Friday night to open the Spirit of Anzac Exhibition at the Cowes Cultural Centre. Guests were welcomed with a smoking ceremony in the cultural centre forecourt. Indigenous Australian servicemen, including those who had fought at Gallipoli, endured racism and humiliation on their return to Australia, says the president of Phillip Island’s RSL.
By Tom Mallaghan
IN 1933, a former private in the 15th Battalion of the Australian Army drew attention to the service of Aboriginal men at Gallipoli when he said, “I have stood shoulder to shoulder with [indigenous Diggers] in Hell’s Pit, on Quinns Post, and saw them die like the grandest of white men.”
In subsequent years, the existence of Aboriginal soldiers at Gallipoli and World War One as a whole was largely erased from Australian history. During the last decades of the 20th Century this situation slowly began to change.
By Tom Mallaghan
IN 1933, a former private in the 15th Battalion of the Australian Army drew attention to the service of Aboriginal men at Gallipoli when he said, “I have stood shoulder to shoulder with [indigenous Diggers] in Hell’s Pit, on Quinns Post, and saw them die like the grandest of white men.”
In subsequent years, the existence of Aboriginal soldiers at Gallipoli and World War One as a whole was largely erased from Australian history. During the last decades of the 20th Century this situation slowly began to change.
Yet as recently as 2001, Les Carlyon in his book Gallipoli, described as a definitive history, denied Aboriginal men a place in what Australians regard as the most significant campaign in their history.
That there were Aboriginal men at Gallipoli we do know. The question is how many.
Recent estimates of the number of Aboriginal men killed or who survived the Gallipoli campaign have varied from a conservative 17 to the mid 30s. It is estimated that at least 500 Aborigines served in the First World War, but there are only five known Aboriginal servicemen buried at Gallipoli.
During World War One, Aboriginal men were excluded from joining the military. Many indigenous Diggers evaded this by pretending to be Maori, Indian or Pacific Islanders.
When indigenous Australians did try to enlist, they were rejected, sent back to their communities and often arrested because they were not allowed to leave their prescribed areas.
Those who returned to Australia after the war did not receive recognition and grace but ignorance and racism. They were not eligible for returned servicemen land grants.
In some cases, Aboriginal diggers found that the Government had taken their children away while they defended their country.
Gracelyn Smallwood wrote: “I know of at least one Aboriginal veteran of World War One who was not only denied his pay packet and his pension but upon his return was given the very same rags he had been seen wearing the day he volunteered and sent back to work on a station, as if the trenches and mud and the fighting had never happened.”
Lest we forget.
COMMENTS
April 19, 2015
The speech by Phillip Island RSL President, Tom Mallaghan, at the opening of the Anzac Commemoration Week was timely and relevant, as we reflect on our nation’s values and future, one hundred years after Gallipoli.
Australia cannot move forward with pride until we acknowledge that part of our history when there was dispossession of Aboriginal lands, the removal of their children and the treatment and non-recognition of Aboriginal servicemen who served their country in war-time.
The public acknowledgement by the President of this part of our nation’s history should evoke shame and regret and inspire the support of the recognition of the first Australians in our Constitution.
Anne Davie, Ventnor
That there were Aboriginal men at Gallipoli we do know. The question is how many.
Recent estimates of the number of Aboriginal men killed or who survived the Gallipoli campaign have varied from a conservative 17 to the mid 30s. It is estimated that at least 500 Aborigines served in the First World War, but there are only five known Aboriginal servicemen buried at Gallipoli.
During World War One, Aboriginal men were excluded from joining the military. Many indigenous Diggers evaded this by pretending to be Maori, Indian or Pacific Islanders.
When indigenous Australians did try to enlist, they were rejected, sent back to their communities and often arrested because they were not allowed to leave their prescribed areas.
Those who returned to Australia after the war did not receive recognition and grace but ignorance and racism. They were not eligible for returned servicemen land grants.
In some cases, Aboriginal diggers found that the Government had taken their children away while they defended their country.
Gracelyn Smallwood wrote: “I know of at least one Aboriginal veteran of World War One who was not only denied his pay packet and his pension but upon his return was given the very same rags he had been seen wearing the day he volunteered and sent back to work on a station, as if the trenches and mud and the fighting had never happened.”
Lest we forget.
COMMENTS
April 19, 2015
The speech by Phillip Island RSL President, Tom Mallaghan, at the opening of the Anzac Commemoration Week was timely and relevant, as we reflect on our nation’s values and future, one hundred years after Gallipoli.
Australia cannot move forward with pride until we acknowledge that part of our history when there was dispossession of Aboriginal lands, the removal of their children and the treatment and non-recognition of Aboriginal servicemen who served their country in war-time.
The public acknowledgement by the President of this part of our nation’s history should evoke shame and regret and inspire the support of the recognition of the first Australians in our Constitution.
Anne Davie, Ventnor