Harry's War
Golden Seahorse Education
A unit of work linked to the film Harry's War for years 8-11 with a range of activities designed to stimulate thought, writing and debate within the classroom and including: Film as text, essay topics, creative writing, research assignments, background notes, film review, and an interview with Richard Frankland.
Resource and study kits
Too dark for the light horse: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the defence forces
Australian War Memorial
A "Memorial Box" from the Australian War Memorial exploring the contribution made by Indigenous Australians during the First and Second World Wars. It traces the evolving attitudes towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander servicemen and women, from official discouragement at first to gradual acceptance in more recent times. It also looks at the equal, and at times specialised, role played by indigenous people in today’s armed services. Too dark for the Light Horse also considers the impact of Australia’s conflicts on the wider Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. As part of this theme, it explores the issue of people making sacrifices on behalf of a country in which they felt marginalised.
Information
Indigenous Australians at War
Garth O'Connell
A comprehensive site dedicated to Indigenous Australians who have served Australia in war and peacetime.
Aboriginals and Islanders Defending Australian During WW2
Peter Dunn's Australia@War
This site contains information about the NT Special Reconnaissance Unit, the Torres Strait Force, the Defence of Melville Island and Leonard Waters, an Aboriginal pilot.
Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in the Australian Defence Force
Australian War Memorial
This section of the Australian War Memorial site provides access to the Memorial's collection items and records, a Reginald Saunders case study, information about David Uniapon and a reading list.
Aboriginals and war
State Library of South Australia
A brief overview including literary references.
Aboriginal war effort
Darwin City Council
Aboriginal people from the Northern Territory played a valuable role in the country's war effort.
"One ilan man": the Torres Strait Light Infantry
Australian War Memorial
The Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion brought pride and unity to a disadvantaged group of Australians, as they prepared to defend their homes from the Japanese.
Island Defenders
By the conclusion of the first 12 months of the Pacific War, 830 Torres Strait Island men, almost every man of eligible age in the area, would volunteer to serve their country. Thus was formed the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion, the only Indigenous Battalion ever to be formed in our nation’s military history.
Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion
Wikipedia
The Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion was an Australian infantry battalion of World War II. The Battalion was unique in that almost all of its enlisted men were Torres Strait Islanders, making the Battalion being the only Indigenous Australian Battalion ever formed by the Australian Army.
The Torres Strait Star
Australia has a new medal - the Torres Strait Star - for soldiers who served in the region at the tip of Queensland during the 17 months it was the target of Japanese bombardment.
Tributes
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Servicemen
Parliament of New South Wales
Text from the Hansard of the NSW Legislative Assembly in which it is moved "That this House notes as a matter of public importance its acknowledgment and tribute to the courageous and dedicated service of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders during the second world war." Contains much valuable information.
RSL - Working for Reconciliation
Major General PR Phillips reflects on his experience and knowledge of soldiers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island descent.
Tribute to Indigenous Service
Royal Australian Air Force
In recognition of the important contribution Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have made to the Australian Defence Force (ADF), a number of high-ranking Defence personnel attended a special memorial service at the Australian War Memorial during National Aboriginal and Islander Day of Commemoration (NAIDOC) week, 2001.
Oral histories
Aboriginals and War
State Library of South Australia
Includes oral histories and extracts from Survival in Our Own Land and Ngarrindjeri ANZACS.
Aboriginal war effort - Casualties: Recorded Interviews
Darwin City Council
Fortunately, casualties among the Aborigines under Army control were very low. Four were killed or died as the result of accidents; but the only loss they suffered from enemy action was during a Japanese air-raid on Katherine, before they were employed by the Army. In that raid one was killed and two were injured.
Reading and resource lists
Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in the Australian Defence Forces - Reading list
Australian War Memorial
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Participation in Defence
South Australian Museum
Library and archive material
Mura Gadi
The National Library is a treasure-house of materials offering insight into the people, places and events making up Australia's history over the past two centuries. As well as publications in all formats, the Library holds manuscripts, pictorial matter and oral histories. The Collection includes rich resources related to Indigenous people. Mura Gadi-a guide to manuscript, pictures and oral histories in the National Library of Australia relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples provides an online pathway to these significant collections.
Collections search at the Australian War Memorial
Enter appropriate words in the search box to see a list of art, photograph, film, sound and other items related to your search.
Individuals
Aboriginals who served in WW1
Milton Ulladulla Local and Family History Site
Details about some of the over 400 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people served in World War I with some 160 from NSW.
Harry Thorpe
Australian War Memorial
An Aboriginal soldier decorated for bravery. An experienced infantrymen, Thorpe led his men with courage and example until killed in action in the Somme fighting of 1918.
Reg Saunders
Australian War Memorial
The first Australian Aboriginal commissioned in the Australian army. A battle-hardened soldier, Saunders rose from the ranks in the Second World War and later served in Korea.
Captain Reginald Walter (Reg) Saunders, MBE
Australian War Memorial
A profile page of this well-respected soldier and leader.
Captain Reg Saunders
Australian War Memorial
Another page on Captain Saunders and one that focuses on his involvement in the Korean War.
A Case Study: Reginald Saunders
Australian War Memorial
A document (PDF) that accompanies the Too dark for the Light Horse Memorial box.
First Aboriginal Commissioned Officer – Reginald Saunders MBE
Digger History
Comprehensive overview of Reg Saunders' career.
Television and film
Enquire about videotapes of these programs at Tape Services Online.
The Forgotten
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Remembers the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who have served, fought and died for their country in the wars and peace-keeping missions that Australian forces have been involved in over the last century.
Norforce
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Norforce, in Australia's Top End, is an important military unit with a history that spans as far back as 1942. Today, over half the soldiers are Aboriginal and their communities consider them as protectors of Aboriginal land.
The Last Post
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Last Post is an Anzac Day tribute to the Indigenous war veterans who fought for freedom, yet were denied it upon their return home. This film is about the recognition and respect of those who have passed away: with their lives finally honoured with a full military burial service.
Indigenous ANZACS
Special Broadcasting Service
An Anzac Day special that takes an historical look at the involvement of Indigenous servicemen and women who served in W.W.I and II and Vietnam to fight for their country.
Harry's War
Harry and his mate Mitch go off to fight in Papua New Guinea during World War II, causing upheaval amongst family and friends. It is the strength of Harry's convictions, his belief and his commitment to mateship beyond the race and cultural differences that makes the journey more important than the journey's end.
Also a Curriculum unit on Harry's War (Years 8-11).
Media clippings from the European Network for Indigenous Australian Rights (ENIAR)
Islander soldiers no longer our forgotten heroes
How, 57 years after 812 men of the Torres Strait Light Infantry downed arms and returned to the struggling island communities they left four years earlier, with no tickertape and little acknowledgement, they are finally to get recognition.
Tribute to Indigenous Service
In recognition of the important contribution Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have made to the Australian Defence Force (ADF), a number of high-ranking Defence personnel attended a special memorial service at the Australian War Memorial during National Aboriginal and Islander Day of Commemoration (NAIDOC) week, 2001.
Aboriginals' significant role in WWI revealed
The names of more than 400 Aboriginal soldiers who served in World War I have been uncovered -- and many were from Tasmania's Bass Strait islands.
Islander soldiers no longer our forgotten heroes
They were not citizens of Australia, nor did they have the right to vote. But in 1942, when enemy forces were on Australia's doorstep and the government looked to the Torres Strait for help, the islanders answered in their hundreds, leaving families and jobs to protect the country's vulnerable northern gateway.
Aboriginal protest of Nazis marked
An Australian Holocaust museum is dedicating a plaque to commemorate a protest staged by Aborigines against the mistreatment of Jews in prewar Nazi Germany.
Aboriginal Veteran Family Honoured
Canberra's tallest building today is renamed in honour of an Aboriginal family that has made a considerable contribution to the defence of the nation. In all, 19 members of the immediate family have seen service across both World Wars as well as in Japan, Korea, Vietnam and East Timor.
Books
Fighters from the Fringe: Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders recall the Second World War
Thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people served their country during the Second World War and this book focuses on the experiences of six. Oodgeroo Noonuccal was a wireless operator whose brothers were prisoners of war. Reg Saunders served in Greece and New Guinea, as the first Aboriginal officer in the Australian Army, and later in Korea. Leonard Waters trained and served as the first Aboriginal fighter pilot. Charles Mene, a Torres Strait Islander, served throughout the war and was awarded the Military Medal in the Korean War. Saulo Waia, a pearl fisher, defended the Strait with fellow soldiers while non-indigenous people were evacuated. Other Islanders like Tom Lowah gave years of service and received lower pay than white servicemen.
Aboriginal ex-servicemen of Central Australia, G Bray, Kenny Laughton, P Forster
Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders in the armed forces, C Hambour, self-published
Aborigines in the defence of Australia, Australian National University Press
Forgotten heroes: Aborigines at war from the Somme to Vietnam, A Jackamos and D Fowell, Victoria Press, Melbourne 1993
Ngarrindjeri Anzacs, Doreen Kartinyeri, Aboriginal Family History Project
Spirit of Anzac: a Torres Strait Perspective, Vanessa Crowdey, Ed Dept. Queensland
Torres Strait at War, available from Thursday Island High School Resource Centre, Thursday Island.
Torres Strait Force - Reg A Ball, Australian Military History Publications
Torres Strait Islander women and the Pacific War, Elizabeth Osborne, available from Thursday Island High School Resource Centre, Thursday Island
Touched by fire: the Australian experience in Vietnam, Kenny Laughton, Veterans of the Vietnam War Inc. Walking together no 27, December 1999, Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (information about 2nd world war Indigenous war veterans)