Anzac Websites
Aboriginals at the Western Front
Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders who served on the Western Front and
elsewhere (but not at Gallipoli) during World War 1 (Soldiers who served at Gallipoli as well are
shown on our Aboriginals at Gallipoli
and Gallipoli lists
pages.)
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are
advised that these pages contain images and names of deceased people as well as links to pages
containing such material.
Horace
Dalton (awm.gov.au)
Trooper Horace Thomas Dalton from Queensland joined the 11th
Light Horse Regiment and served in Suez, Egypt.
Aboriginal soldier officially recognised 50 years after death
(abc.net.au) 1 Oct 2012
Aboriginal World War 1 soldier Horace Dalton who had been buried
in an unmarked grave has been officially recognised. The report
includes a video extract from an ABC television bulletin.
First Nations war heroes
'vanished' from the Anzac legend (dailytelegraph.com.au) 21 April 2014
Horace Dalton was so keen to fight for his country that he lied
about his age, but when he retrurned to Australia he faced
racism and inequality like so many others.
Douglas
Grant (guides.sl.nsw.gov.au) Scroll down. Indigenous Australian and draughtsman Douglas Grant
was wounded in France during World War 1, then captured by the
Germans and sent to a different prisoner-of-war camp than his
fellow soldiers because of his colour.
Aboriginal Soldier: Story of
Douglas Grant [pdf] (anzacwebsites.com)
Reproduction of a news story from the Sydney Morning Herald
dated 2 Sep 1916. Douglas Grant was at first refused permission
to leave Australia to fight overseas on the grounds he was
Aboriginal.
Statue of Douglas Grant tracked down (theconversation.com) 5 Jun 2019
After a long search, a bronze bust of Douglas Grant has been found in
England, academics Tom Murray and Hilary Howes report on The Conversation
website.
Private Douglas Grant (abc.net.au)
A photograph containing Douglas Grant, along with notes about his
time in a German prisoner-of-war camp.
Studio
portrait of Private
Reginald Francis Hawkins (awm.gov.au)
Private Hawkins, from Jericho, Queensland, was
taken prisoner-of-war by the Germans after being injured while
fighting in France, but he eventually returned to Australia.
The Lock Family of NSW (indigenoushistories.com)
Nine members of the Lock (also spelt Locke) family
of NSW (from the Darug people of the Sydney area) volunteered for and fought in World War 1,
including Jerome Locke and his sons Olga and Leslie John (Jack).
Private Miller Mack's 'spirit' to return home (abc.net.au)11 Nov 2016
Private Miller Mack joined the A.I.F. in 1915 but
caught tuberculosis while fighting in France. He died in 1919
aged 25 after he had returned to South Australia. However, as in
the case of many Aboriginal soldiers, a decent effort to show
respect for his war effort and his short life only occurred in
recent years. Family returns WW1 vetaran
Private Miller Mack to home town of Raukkan (abc.net.au)
25 Mar 2017 Miller Mack's modern day family members have
brought him back to his home ground to be buried.
Research reveals a piece of Victorian history (smh.com.au)
Producers of the film Beneath Hill 60 have named
Herbert Murray from East Gippsland in Victoria as the mystery
digger in a photograph of Australian soldiers in 1917.
The Murray brothers [pdf] (moreland.vic.gov.au) Aboriginal Worlds War 1 soldiers and
brothers Herbert and William Murray are remembered by the
Moreland (Victoria) community.
Indigenous
WW1 veteran Frederick Prentice(abc.net.au)
Frederick Prentice was born in the Northern
Territory but enlisted in South Australia in 1915. After the war
he returned with a Military Medal to South Australia and in the
1950s moved back to the Northern Territory.
Frederick Prentice (territorystories.nt.gov.au)
Information about Private Frederick Prentice.
Private
William Joseph Punch (awm.gov.au)
Originally from Queensland but enlisted from
Goulburn, NSW. Private Punch was wounded twice in action and was
evacuated to England where he died.
Private William Joseph Punch:
story (awm.gov.au)
Provides the brief story of Aboriginal station hand William Joseph Punch
who enlisted on 31 December 1915 to fight in World War 1 and
died on 29 August 1917.
- This information is followed by activities for research and
discussion.
Corporal
Harry Thorpe (awm.gov.au)
Born at the Lake Tyers Aboriginal Mission Station, Victoria. Fought in
France 1916-18. Corporal Thorpe is buried in France a few kilometres from
where he fell.
William Williams (dva.gov.au)
William was also known as 'Cobar Bill'. Cobar walked
almost 300 kilometres to enlist in 1916. He received a gunshot
wound at the Western Front and was made a prisioner-of-war by
the Germans. It is believed only three Aboriginals althogether
became POWs during World War 1.Cobar died in Australia at
the age of 70.
Black Magic(From diggerhistory.info,
archived by the NLA's Pandora Archive on 6 Mar 2010)
Examples of Aboriginals who participated in Australian wars.
Aboriginal Diggers(From diggerhistory.info,
archived by the NLA's Pandora Archive on 6 Mar 2010) World War 1 soldiers include Corporal Harry Thorpe, Private S.
Cunningham, Private William Joseph Punch, Private Reginald Francis Hawkins.
Tales
of illegal heroes (pippaettore.com) Originally published in The Mercury (Tasmania), 9
Nov 2012 [The original web page
http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/11/09/365686_tasmania-news.html is
no longer available.]
Tasmanian Indigenous troops in World War 1. This newspaper story provides
information about Lt Alfred John Hearps from Forth and Private Marcus Blake
Norman Brown from Cape Barren Island, and includes a long list of soldiers.
The image at right is of Private Thomas Edward Mansell.
●
See also
More Tasmanian Aboriginal Soldiers WW1(indigenoushistories.com
Lest We Forget: Remembering the Aboriginal Heroes of World War 1
[pdf] (reconciliation.org.au) Reconciliation News, Issue
No. 32, April 2015
In a section titled Lest We Forget, this
downloadable magazine provides information about: - Private George
Robert Aitken (p. 9) - Private William Allen Irwin (p. 9) -
The Locke family (p. 10): - Private Jerome Locke
- Private Olga Locke and Private Leslie Locke - Private
Richard Martin (p. 10) - 2nd Lieutenant Alfred John Hearps (p.
11) - Private William Joseph Punch (p. 11)
John Huggins (grandfather of
Jackie Huggins): Remembrance Day
Commemorative Address by Dr Jackie Huggins (awm.gov.au)
Dr Jackie Huggins describes the parts played by her
Indigenous grandfather (John Huggins) and father (also called John Huggins)
in the First and Second World Wars respectively.