Street salute to WA’s North West Diggers

DRIVEWAYS at dawn. This year, thousands of Pilbara residents from Exmouth to Karratha and Port Hedland to Newman and Tom Price will honour Anzac Day – at the end of their driveways.
Observing COVID-19 distancing, they will pause at first light, wearing poppies and PJs, to honour the men and women who died in all wars and those presently on duty in conflicts and peacekeeping operations overseas.
StreetWise visited war memorials in Port Hedland, Whim Creek, Roebourne and Karratha where the names of WW1 and WW2 soldiers feature prominently on cenotaphs, obelisks and commemorative plaques.
However, it is difficult, even online, to trace the names and images of Indigenous soldiers for whom enlistment was illegal under the Aborigines Act of 1905. Some Aboriginal men pretended, “to be Italian, Indian or Maori”. Interestingly, there are photographs of Aboriginal men on the Western Front, but none from Gallipoli though at least 70 Indigenous soldiers from Australia joined the disastrous campaign in which 13 Aboriginal West Australians were killed in action.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have served in the Australian defence forces since the Boer War when at least 10 Aboriginal soldiers and 10 trackers fought in South Africa from 1899 to 1902 as their people were still fighting on the ‘frontiers’ of northern Australia.
Many who returned were discriminated against and denied veterans’ rights and benefits. Most returned to their communities never to be heard of again or seen at Anzac Day commemorations.
About 1200 Aboriginal and Torres Islanders served in WW1, of whom 250 to 300 were killed. Despite laws excluding recruits not of ‘substantial European descent’, 133 Aboriginal men with ties to WA enlisted, including 83 who served overseas, most of the others rejected or having served at home.
Of the 83 who fought in Europe and the Middle East, 12 died in battle including at Gallipoli.
Tomorrow, WA Indigenous soldiers who fought and died at Gallipoli.