The wonderful Peter Yang
Stories of Native Australian Soldiers during WW2
May 23rd 2010 08:26
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How were the Indigenous peoples of Australia drawn into World War II? Some material in official records suggest that some European Australians were nervous about the possible loyalty of Aborigines in the northern parts of the country. For example, on 1 April 1942, A Mr S McClintock from Perth wrote to the Prime Minister, the Honourable Mr John Curtin, with a suggestion:
As the Australian aborigines up North are wonderful bushmen- and unbeatable at finding water etc. – and as they will help anyone for a plug of tobacco and gaudy clothes, it seems to me that they should all be removed far inland from any likely enemy landing places – Darwin, Wyndham, Broome, Carnarvon etc. – as if taken by the Japanese they might prove very useful to them as guides, and in securing water etc.
[Item 82/712/1773 Series MP508, NAA]
The Prime Minister acknowledged his letter and forwarded it to the Minister for the Army, the Honourable Frank Forde. On 18 May 1942, Mr Forde replied to Mr McClintock saying:
Your interest in putting forward this suggestion is much appreciated and, while the idea is basically sound, it is not considered practicable with the means or time at our disposal.
[Item 82/712/1773 Series MP508, NAA]
But it was not only Mr McClintock who didn’t want the Australian Aborigines anywhere near the enemy. Neither did the Australian Army nor the Royal Australian Navy, both of which excluded persons ‘not substantially of European origin or descent’ until the threat of Japanese invasion necessitated the recruitment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) was more lenient, accepting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders early on because of a critical shortage of manpower due to the demands of the Empire Air Training Scheme.
Click here to read the rest of the article
As the Australian aborigines up North are wonderful bushmen- and unbeatable at finding water etc. – and as they will help anyone for a plug of tobacco and gaudy clothes, it seems to me that they should all be removed far inland from any likely enemy landing places – Darwin, Wyndham, Broome, Carnarvon etc. – as if taken by the Japanese they might prove very useful to them as guides, and in securing water etc.
[Item 82/712/1773 Series MP508, NAA]
The Prime Minister acknowledged his letter and forwarded it to the Minister for the Army, the Honourable Frank Forde. On 18 May 1942, Mr Forde replied to Mr McClintock saying:
Your interest in putting forward this suggestion is much appreciated and, while the idea is basically sound, it is not considered practicable with the means or time at our disposal.
[Item 82/712/1773 Series MP508, NAA]
But it was not only Mr McClintock who didn’t want the Australian Aborigines anywhere near the enemy. Neither did the Australian Army nor the Royal Australian Navy, both of which excluded persons ‘not substantially of European origin or descent’ until the threat of Japanese invasion necessitated the recruitment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) was more lenient, accepting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders early on because of a critical shortage of manpower due to the demands of the Empire Air Training Scheme.
Click here to read the rest of the article
Flight Sergeant Leonard Waters,
Lieutenant L Reg Saunders, the first Aboriginal commissioned in the Australian Army
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