A Case Study of Indigenous Brothers in Arms during the First World War
Abstract
This article examines the enlistment of indigenous people into the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War. Despite official prohibitions, the author estimates that close to a thousand Indigenous men eventually enlisted. The author demonstrates how their attempts were made easier as racial prejudices gave way in the face of the authorities’ purely pragmatic concern with replacing the AIF’s appalling losses of 1916 and 1917. Three of these Indigenous enlistees—the Blackman brothers—form the author’s case study for this article, and their experiences show that, despite being discriminated against for most of their lives, they—like most other Indigenous soldiers—still served with all of the courage, determination and good humour of their white comrades.
Introduction
The Roll of Honour in the Commemorative Courtyard at the Australian War Memorial records the names of over 102,000 Australian Service personnel who have died in service of their country. Above the dark bronze panels bearing the names are a series of stone busts and replicas depicting a selection of unique Australian flora and fauna. The last of these are the heads of an Indigenous1 man and woman. Chapter VII, Section 127 of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (1900) decreed that, ‘In reckoning the numbers of the people of the Commonwealth, or of a State or other part of the Commonwealth, aboriginal natives shall not be counted.’ They were excluded the rights of Australian citizenship and remained wards of the state until Section 127 was repealed in a 1967 referendum which also granted Indigenes status as citizens under the Australian Constitution (Section 51, Paragraph 26).2
Yet, below the stone busts in the courtyard are recorded the names of Indigenous men who died in the service of Australia during the Great War, despite strict governmental guidelines excluding them from service in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) until March 1917. Due to these regulations, it is impossible to know the exact number of Indigenes who circumvented official policy to serve and fight during the First World War. Race was not recorded on military documents, most had to hide their heritage in order to be accepted for service, and all would have used English names. Currently, it is known that some 545 men of Indigenous descent served in the AIF during the Great War. This number is still being added to and it is likely that the actual number is higher, possibly upwards of 1000.3 Three such Indigenous diggers were brothers Lance Corporal Charles Tednee Blackman, Private Thomas Blackman and Private Alfred John Blackman of Gayndah, Queensland.
With Australian Federation on 1 January 1901, jurisdiction for Aboriginal affairs was not transferred to the federal government, similar to other Dominions,4 and remained the responsibility of the individual states as outlined in Chapter 1, Part V, Section XXVI of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (1900):
The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have the power to make peace, order and good government with respect to:--
(XXVI) the people of any race, other than the Aboriginal race in each State, for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws.5
In 1909, to rectify existing inadequacies Australia (like all Dominions) introduced an amendment to the Defence Act 1903 mandating that all males aged 12–25 receive military training, while men older than 25 would form the reserve.6 Given this amendment, a more relevant clause with regard to Indigenous service was promulgated. Section 61 (h) stated that:
The following shall be exempt from service in time of war, so long as the employment, condition, or status on which the exemption is based continues:--
(h) Persons who are not substantially of European origin or descent, of which the medical authorities appointed under the Regulations shall be the judges....
Provided that, as regards the persons described in paragraphs (h) and (i) [Conscientious Objectors] of this section, the exemption shall not extend to duties of a non-combat nature.7
Given that Indigenous Australians were not of European descent they were exempt from military service under this article. The ambiguity, however, was whether by being exempt, were they also unable to volunteer. Given that the federal government had the power to ‘make peace, order and good government with respect to ... the people of any race, other than the Aboriginal race in each State’, the Defence Act seemed to contradict this clause.
Although these discrepancies could be used to argue in favour of the voluntary enlistment of Indigenes, the contemporary realisation was that they were neither of European descent nor citizens under the Australian Constitution; therefore, they would not have been considered relevant in the formation of defence or other federal policies, unless precisely mentioned.8 However, in saying this, the sub-section referring to non-exemption from non-combat duties for ‘Persons who are not substantially of European origin or descent’ raises the question as to whether this clause was inserted with the realisation that Indigenes and other noncombatants could be used as a labour force both within and outside of Australia during times of war.9
Background
Of the 4.92 million Australians in 1914 (excluding an estimated 75,000 to 80,000 Indigenes) 13.3 per cent were British born and roughly 84 per cent were born in Australia. Men of British birth composed 27 per cent of the first contingent of the AIF totalling 29,509 men. By the closing of 1914, Australian enlistment totalled 52,561—a per capita ratio comparable to that of Canada.10 After the declaration of war on 4 August 1914, recruiting stations in the Dominions, possessing little contingency planning for mass mobilisation, were overwhelmed with volunteers during the first months of the war and attesting officers had the ability to be highly selective. Positions within initial Australian formations were quickly filled by men of European, primarily British, stock. The participation of Indigenes remained dependent on the existing defence act, or in the absence of any clear policy, to the whims of state governments.
Prior to 1917, the general policy of Australia, in relation to Indigenous service, adhered to contemporary racial assumptions, past policy and practice and remained one of exclusion. Throughout 1914, and into 1915, in the absence of vast deployments to European theatres accompanied by inevitable casualties, white manpower was sufficient to meet the demands of Australian commitments, still in relative infancy, within the context of a war that was believed to be short-lived. No Dominion soldiers were active on the Western Front or the Gallipoli Peninsula (save for those men who enlisted directly into British forces to avoid sitting out a short war) until the independently raised Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) Battalion arrived in France on 21 December 1914 and entered trenches in the Ypres Salient on 6 January 1915.11
Although no Dominion directly recruited Indigenes for combatant service in 1914 and the first half of 1915 (including the Maori of New Zealand) the precedent for the employment of Indigenous men as combatants was set by both Britain and France during the opening battles of the war, as the Dominions hastened to form expeditionary forces. In the years preceding the war, only France had produced contingency plans to mobilise Indigenous colonial soldiers for a European war. French colonial soldiers, therefore, were quickly mobilised and despatched to the Western Front. Four battalions of Moroccans, dubbed les Bataillons de Chasseurs Indigenes, were incorporated into the Sixth French Army on 20 August 1914 and suffered horrific casualties during the (First) Battle of the Marne (5–12 September 1914).12 Two battalions of colonial Algerians arrived in France on 1 October. Four battalions of Senegalese (Tirailleurs Senegalais) suffered a casualty rate of nearly 75 per cent when successfully holding their portion of the line at Dixmude (Diksmuide) at the Yser River action (16–31 October) during the ‘race to the sea’.13
Britain, in need of manpower, as the Dominions were scrambling to recruit and train expeditionary forces, deployed a British Indian contingent consisting of the 3rd (Lahore) Division, the 7th (Meerut) Division, and the 4th (Secunderbad) Cavalry Brigade (in addition to supporting elements), which arrived at Marseilles on 26 September 1914. On 25 October, the Indian sepoys received their combat initiation with the British Expeditionary Force at Wytschaete in the Ypres Salient. By the closing of 1914, over 2000 sepoys had been killed on the Western Front.14
In Australia, given the overwhelming numbers of white volunteers throughout 1914 and 1915, no thought was given to allowing Indigenes to enlist. Furthermore, the 1909 amendment to the Defence Act forbade them from entering military service. Absolute exclusion of Indigenes, as was customary in the past save for scouts when dictated by pragmatism to fill desideratum, was the policy of the Australian Government until March 1917. Recruiting officers adhered to this principle, which had been outlined in their Recruiting Regulations Booklet: ‘Aborigines and halfcastes are not to be enlisted. This restriction is to be interpreted as applying to all coloured men.’15 However, Australian recruiters had the ability to enlist within locally raised battalions at their personal discretion and a minority of ‘half-castes’ were able to enlist in the first contingent of the AIF (this process was mirrored in Canada). Most were dismissed in Australia during the medical evaluation for being ‘too dark’. It is known, however, that at least two men of Indigenous descent proceeded overseas with the first contingent.16 According to James Walker, at the onset of war the participation of Dominion Indigenes was guided ‘by a set of presumptions about their abilities which dictated the role they were to play [or not play] and which limited the rewards they were to derive’.17 As the war progressed, however, and Dominion forces expanded and accrued the horrific casualty rates of trench warfare on the Western Front and Gallipoli, Dominion policies regarding Indigenous service were substantially altered to provide for greater inclusion into expeditionary forces.
In 1915, Australia conducted a war census with a view to ascertaining national resources, available manpower, and financial capabilities as an assessment and cover for Prime Minister William Hughes’ conscription agenda. Although Indigenous Australians were excluded from military service, only Indigenous men of military age were included in the survey. In a memorandum, John William Bleakley, Chief Protector of Aborigines for Queensland, urged his subordinates to:
Please compile for war census purposes the following information regarding Aborigines and half-castes in your districts ... List of civilised male Aborigines between 18–45 years showing name—town—occupation—wages. List all Aborigines and half-castes with money to credit in bank or other property showing name—sex—adult or child—amount to credit and estimated value of other property known.18
By February 1916, enquiries were being submitted by the Chief Aboriginal Protectorates of various states as to whether Indigenes could be accepted into AIF units. The reply, ‘with reference to applications for the enlistment of Aborigines, full-blood, or half-caste, please note that it is not considered advisable that such should be enlisted in the Australian Imperial Forces’.19 Nevertheless, Indigenous men still managed to evade policy and gain admittance into the AIF, including the three Blackman brothers; however, the overall number was relatively low.
Following the Battle of the Somme (July–November 1916) and the rejection of conscription in October 1916, Australia was facing a shortage of manpower despite vigorous recruiting campaigns. From July 1916 to June 1917, Australian forces suffered almost 50,000 casualties, in addition to another 38,000 during the Passchendaele offensive (July–November 1917).20 Given these casualty rates, regulations were relaxed concerning the enlistment of ‘half-castes’, although no alterations were made to the Defence Act. In March 1917, a military memorandum was sent to all recruiting depots stating, ‘Half-castes may be enlisted in the AIF provided that the examining medical authorities are satisfied that one of the parents is of European descent’.21 In addition, height requirements for all volunteers had progressively been lowered from 165cm at the outbreak of war to 155cm by 1917. Although all Indigenous recruits were judged on their complexion and physical stature, they were also given merit for their ability to read, write and the quality of their penmanship, which was evidence of both an education and assimilation. (All three Blackman brothers could write at varying levels, although their mother could not and simply made an ‘X’ for her signature on Charles’ AIF application). On 11 May 1917, Chief Protectors of Aborigines for each State announced Military Order 200(2):
Advice has been received from the recruiting committee that half-castes will now be accepted for service in the Australian Expeditionary Forces provided that they satisfy the medical authorities that one parent was of European origin. As the enlistment of fullblood Aborigines is also being advocated, will you [local protectors] as soon as possible ascertain and advise the probable number of full-bloods and half-castes, separately, under 45 years who would be prepared to enlist within the next three months.22
Judging by enlistment dates and archival records, there was a significant increase in Indigenous enlistment after May 1917, including at least three ‘fullbloods’.23 According John William Bleakley, Chief Protector of Aborigines for Queensland:
Large numbers immediately volunteered, all claiming to come within that category [half-caste]. The recruiting officers scratched their heads, as one of them said, ‘some of these are the blackest half-castes I’ve ever seen.’ It seems a shame to disappoint them, but most, if not all, wormed themselves in at other centres and got into uniform eventually.24
Many claimed to be part-[East] Indian. Others, including Richard Martin, who falsely listed his place of birth as Dunedin, New Zealand, claimed to be Maori. Albert Tripcony, explained his dark complexion by telling recruiters that he came from Italy.25 In contrast, the three Blackman brothers were all attested into the AIF prior to the change of policy in March and May 1917.
The Blackman Brothers at War
Throughout 1915 and 1916 some Indigenous men managed to evade official government policy to successfully enlist in the AIF. They volunteered for various reasons; one being that wartime service might give them full citizenship rights, akin to those enjoyed by white Australians. Others, like 16-year-olds Mike Flick and Harry Manson from Collarenebri, enlisted for adventure and to escape the boredom of mandatory rural or pastoral work, while others joined to see the world.26 Lastly, the average wage for an Indigenous male in 1914 was seven shillings and six pence per week as compared with a private’s pay in the Australian Army of six shillings a day.27 Charles, Thomas and Alfred Blackman were examples of Indigenous men who evaded official policy to join the AIF between 1915 and early 1917.
All three brothers were born in (or around) Gayndah, Queensland, to mother Emily Deshong—who as of 1914 resided in Childers, Queensland, as identified as next of kin by all three brothers. Their father Thomas (Tom) Blackman died prior to the war, although the exact date cannot be discerned. When war was declared, 18-year-old Charles was working as a labourer in the charge of J H Salter of Biggenden, Queensland. Thomas, 22, was a stockman at Boompa, Queensland, while Alfred, 24, was a labourer in Tiaro, Queensland. None were married and none had children. Charles, the youngest, enlisted in Brisbane on 18 August 1915 into the 6th Reinforcements/25th Battalion at the age of 19 years. Charles is one of the earliest known Indigenous recruits to be attested into the AIF. On 21 October, he embarked from Australia on the Saxonia for overseas training in Egypt. On 27 February 1916, in Cairo, he was taken on strength by the 9th Battalion, which had been the first unit raised in Queensland, and together with the 10th, 11th and 12th Battalions formed the 3rd Brigade, 1st Division. On 3 April 1916, the 9th Battalion disembarked at Marseilles, France, bound for the Western Front.28
The battalion’s first major action in France came during actions at Pozieres (23 July–7 August 1916) during the Battle of the Somme. Australian casualties totalled 23,000 between 23 July and 5 September 1916. Private Blackman recalled this period in a letter of 13 January 1917 to his former employer J H Salter of Biggenden:
I had 10 month with the Battalion. I have been very lucky cording to what I have been through. Poziers was terrible but Ill return.29
While Charles was fighting in France, his older brothers enlisted: Thomas, at 24 years old, on 11 December 1916, followed roughly a month later by Alfred, 26, on 6 January 1917—both into the 7th Reinforcements/41st Battalion. (It should be noted that the enlistment papers for all three brothers read identical: ‘Complexion-Dark, Eyes-Brown, Hair-Black and Religious Denomination-Church of England’.) They left Sydney together onboard the Wiltshire on 7 February 1917 and landed at Davenport, England, on 11 April 1917.30 Following training, Privates Thomas and Alfred Blackman joined the 41st Battalion (11th Brigade, 3rd Division) near Messines, Belgium, on 18 July 1917, while Charles was on leave in England:
I suppose you will be glad to hear that I have been on leave to England for ten days. I had a glorious time there, one can’t help having a good time because the people in England think the world of yer and they take yer all over the place and show you everything you wish to see and look after you well...I am putting in time with my new mates because the last time in we had some stiff fighting [Battles of Bullecourt/Arras Offensive], my cabbers are away wounded. I were nearly going away to wounded but I am very lucky I am wonderfully lucky.31
All three brothers participated in the Battle of Passchendaele (Third Ypres) between 31 July and 10 November 1917. Private Alfred John Blackman was wounded in the head and neck by shell fragments on 4 October 1917 while advancing on Passchendaele Ridge. He died of these wounds on 8 October at the 7th Canadian General Hospital in Etaples, France. He is buried at the Etaples Military Cemetery along with 10,773 other Commonwealth soldiers, including 463 Australians.32
In an unpleasant misunderstanding his mother, Emily, received a letter from the Base Records Office in Melbourne on 27 November 1917, informing her that Alfred had died in action and that ‘his brother No. 3174 [Thomas] of the same unit was buried at Messines and removed to hospital suffering from shell shock’. In reality, Thomas did not participate in the Battle of Messines (7–14 June 1917) as he was still training in England. On 6 December she received another letter clarifying the mistake: ‘therefore assumed he is well and with his unit’.33 Following the Battle of Passchendaele, Charles wrote a series of candid letters to Salter about his life and thoughts as a soldier:
15 October 1917: It is nice to get a few letters now and then as I always been a lonely soldier till I went on leave in England...There are quite a few Biggenden lads in the ninth Battalion with me but it matter who we meet so long as a few of us can get together we can always be found laughes or with the big fresh smile up and don’t worry so long as we get home someday.
29 October 1917: I expect you know what we feel like over here or you have a good idear its terrible painful and serious but yet it can’t make us lad down harted. All my cobber are in Blighty having a spell with slight wound they are coming back geragly. My best cobber will soon be going back to Australia shortly ... I think me and he was nearly takin Presnors once. He + I was staying in the same dugout croch up like sardines and the Prussian guard made a big attack and when they came over what do you think happen. Well the first dug out was the one me and Frank was sleeping in but luck happen we were releaved about an hour before they came over ... and if we weren’t releaved we would have been Presnors of war in germany. this is not half of what I could tell you about the Battle in France. What a soldier don’t know it not worth known we seen some sites of all kind ... after the war we are going to have a look all over England Scotland + Ireland so we will see some sights yet. so far we haven’t seen any better places than Australia. France is a beautiful but it rains to mutch why you never see the sun here one thing is the clouds here never need to thunder the guns do all the thundering + the splashes they make is just like lightning they make more noise than those thunderstorms you have in Australia. I would rather be in a thunderstorm than a Battle. Well dear friend remember me to all at home ... from your sincerely friends lonely soldier.
23 November 1917: I don’t think this winter will be as bad as last winter...the last time up in the line I killed five german I did it because they held up thir hand till we got about ten yards off them and then the dirty bruits threw bombs at us so that’s why I killed them. If they hadent thrown bombs at us we would have taken them Presnors and they would have been alright. This totles ten for me since I been in France that all good hall for one man isn’t it I have done my bit I think the next time up Ill get some more and Ill kill all I can.34
On 15 November 1917, Charles was promoted to lance corporal and posted to the Brigade School in France for further training. While on leave in France in February he was admitted to hospital with gonorrhoea, a regular occurrence in Dominion forces—most notably among Canadian soldiers, who accounted for the highest VD percentage of any nationality in the Great War. During his time in hospital in both France and England for treatment for VD, and also for gas poisoning symptoms from Passchendaele,35 Charles continued to write letters to Salter in Biggenden:
15 June 1918: I have been in England since February 25th/18 I got sick for seven weeks and now I am in Convalesent Camp ... England getting teeth fixt up. I suppose I shall be going back to France soon ... I don’t wish to go to back for awhile yet I am not well yet I am suffering from a very sore throat. I think its cause by gas when I was in action at Yprus in Belguim.
22 June 1918: I am suffering from sore throat still ... I still be in England because I am not fit yet to return to France. I don’t wish to go back yet while this big stunt is on. I have see quite enough of it before.
6 July 1918: soon will be going back to France in three week time ... I wish I was returning to Australia today I think this war is a nuisense it keeping us away to long ... I havent seen any place like Aussie yet in this world everyday you can hear dozens of fellows saying I wish I was in Aussie now. The reply is youve got a lot of mates Digger.36
During his convalescence Charles was demoted to private for overstaying hospital leave. He rejoined his battalion on 3 August 1918 in time for the brilliant Canadian and Australian spearhead operation during the Battle of Amiens beginning 8 August. Thomas Blackman received a gun shot wound to his right foot on the 8th and Charles was gassed on the 11th. For Thomas, the war was over. After time in hospital in both France and England, he was invalided home to Australia leaving England on 14 December 1918, the war having been over for roughly one month. Charles rejoined his battalion on 31 August. He was reinstated to lance corporal on 11 September and then to acting-corporal on 12 October and posted to the Brigade Supply Depot. On 25 January 1919, he was again admitted to hospital in Belgium with VD (this time syphilis). He was repatriated home, leaving England on 12 April 1919, arriving in Australia on 5 June 1919, and was formally discharged on 30 July.37
Charles applied for repatriation aid in June 1921 with the assistance of his employer Mr Salter. He was denied all benefits of the Soldier Settlement Act and repatriation programs, on account that ‘he did not make application within the stipulated period of twelve months after discharge’.38 However, the Ministry of Defence also stated that:
The fact of an Aboriginal having served with the A.I.F. does not remove him from the care or supervision exercisable by the Board appointed for the protection of Aborigines under the Aborigines Act, 1909, neither does it relieve that Board of its duties towards the Aboriginal.39
Only one Indigenous veteran is known to have been allocated land under the Soldier Settlement Act. Warrant Officer 2 George Kennedy of the 6th Light Horse was granted 17,000 acres at Yelty, seven miles from Ivanhoe, NSW. George’s final resting place was recently rediscovered in a cemetery in Condobolin as simply a numbered peg. Indigenous veterans and their families did not receive military burial services or funeral compensation akin to non-Indigenous veterans.40
Conclusion
It is known that 545 men of Indigenous descent served in the AIF during the First World War, despite the fact that they did not enjoy the benefits of citizenship. Furthermore, until March 1917, governmental and military authorities restricted Indigenes from enlistment. Nevertheless, a select number of Indigenous Australians evaded this exclusionist policy and enlisted prior to the lifting of restrictions (for half-castes only), including the three Blackman brothers from Queensland. Indigenous Australian soldiers came from all geographical areas of the country, including at least one Torres Strait Islander. Of the thirty known Tasmanians, the majority came from the Cape Barren and Flinders Islands families of Brown, Mansell and Maynard, children of Aborigines and European whalers.41 Given that ‘half-castes’ made up the majority of servicemen, with policy eventually allowing their inclusion, it is not surprising that the majority of Indigenous soldiers came from states, such as NSW and Queensland, with a higher percentage of assimilated ‘halfcastes’. In relation, the Western Australia Recruiting Committee never deviated from pre-war policy, forbidding Indigenous enlistment; hence, the relatively small number of recruits given its high Indigenous population.42
Of these known soldiers, 83 were killed, 123 wounded and another 17 became prisoners of war. Including the POWs, the casualty rate is 41 per cent as compared to 65 per cent across the entire AIF.43 This can be attributed to the fact that Indigenous Known State Enlistments to Aboriginal Population44 enlistment regulations were relaxed in March 1917, after the Australian bloodletting of 1916 and early 1917 at Pozieres and the Somme, and that the majority served in mounted units with lesser casualty rates then their infantry counterparts.
| State | Full-Blood | Half-Caste | Total Population | Known Enlistments |
| NSW | 1031 | 6035 | 7066 | 209 |
| Victoria | 55 | 459 | 514 | 56 |
| Queensland | 13,604 | 4047 | 17,651 | 182 |
| S. Australia | 2531 | 1452 | 3983 | 41 |
| W. Australia | 22,222 | 2,420 | 24,642 | 15 |
| N. Territory | 19,853 | 689 | 20,542 | 6 |
| Tasmania | 0 | unknown | unknown | 30 |
| Torres Strait Islands | unknown | unknown | unknown | 1 |
| Unknown | 5 | |||
| Totals | 59,296 | 15,102 | 74,398 | 545 |
This case study of the service of the Blackman brothers reveals the commonality of service and sacrifice made by all Australian soldiers during the Great War. Alfred was killed and lies in France among his peers; Thomas was wounded and invalided back home to Australia; Charles, the youngest and longest serving brother, was gassed but survived two and half years of war. His letters reveal the sense of duty, fears of battle, pleasures of leave, camaraderie and esprit de corps among mates, and loneliness of being so far from home—common to all soldiers.
Acknowledgements
I would like to extend a debt of gratitude to the following people who were (and continue to be) so helpful and kind while I was in Australia conducting research for my current PhD thesis at the University of Oxford comparing the Indigenous peoples of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland and South Africa during the First World War: Mrs Margaret Beadman, Lance Corporal Garth O’Connell, Mr Robert Hall, Dr Peter Stanley and Dr Christopher Clark.
Endnotes
1 Note: The term Indigenous (and its derivatives such as Indigenes) has been used in substitution of Aboriginal as is now customary. The terms ‘Aboriginal’, ‘half-caste’ and ‘full-blood’ have been used where they appear in direct quotations or are relevant to specific laws and policies, where distinction is paramount to the arguments made.
2 Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (1900); Sven Lindqvist, Terra Nullius: A Journey through No One’s Land, Granta Books Ltd., London 2007, p. 180.
3 Australian War Memorial (AWM), CN R940.4030994 A938—List of Australian Indigenous Servicemen who Served in World War One (Work in Progress), January 2007; Margaret Beadman (AWM)—Private Collection.
4 British North America was officially designated the Dominion of Canada with Confederation in 1867. The first collective use of the title Dominion was conferred upon Canada and Australia at the Colonial Conference of April to May 1907. New Zealand and Newfoundland were given the designation of Dominion in September of that same year, followed by South Africa in 1910 and the Irish Free State in 1922. India and Pakistan were given short-lived Dominion status in 1947, although India was officially recognised as the Union of India. The Union of India became the Republic of India in 1950, while the Dominion of Pakistan became the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in 1956. Therefore, during the focal period of the First World War, there existed five self-governing British Dominions: Canada, Australia, Newfoundland, New Zealand and South Africa.
5 Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (1900).
6 F W Perry, The Commonwealth Armies: Manpower and Organization in Two World Wars, University Press, Manchester, 1988, pp. 149–150; Jane Ross, The Myth of the Digger: The Australian Soldier in Two World Wars, Hale & Iremonger, Sydney, 1985, p. 39.
7 Defence Act 1903, Act No. 26 of 1903 as Amended, Office of Legislative Drafting and Publishing, Canberra, 2005.
8 Rod Pratt, ‘Queensland’s Aborigines in the First AIF’, Sabretache, Vol. XXXI, January/March 1990, pp. 20–21.
9 Interestingly, the Union of South Africa Defence Act of 1912, in provisions echoing those of the Australian 1909 Defence Act, officially denied Natives armed service in the South African Defence Force. Mitigating any armed service of Blacks was Chapter 1, Article 7 which stated that the liability to render combatant service in wartime or any obligation to train under proscribed military arrangements, ‘shall not be enforced against persons not of European descent, unless and until Parliament shall by resolution determine the extent to which any such liability shall be enforced against such persons: but nothing in this section contained shall be deemed to prevent the voluntary engagement at any time of such persons for service in any portion of the Defence Forces in such capacities and under such conditions as are prescribed.’
10 E M Andrews, The Anzac Illusion: Anglo-Australian Relations during World War I, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1993, pp. 43–44; Ross, The Myth of the Digger: The Australian Soldier in Two World Wars, pp. 16, 40; J G Fuller, Troop Morale and Popular Culture in the British and Dominion Armies 1914–1918, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1990, p. 171; L L Robson, The First A.I.F: A Study of its Recruitment 1914–1918, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1970, pp. 49–54. In 1914, the population of Canada was 7.88 million, excluding 103,774 Indians and 3447 Eskimos. Of the total population, 54 per cent were of British ancestry, with 10.89 per cent born in Britain itself. Of the 36,267 soldiers of the first CEF contingent: 9635 (27 per cent) were English-speaking born Canadians, 1245 (3.4 per cent) French-speaking born Canadians and 23,211 (64 per cent) were British by birth. However, nearly 70 per cent of the officers were Canadian born. By the end of 1914, Canada had enlisted 59,144 soldiers for overseas service.
11 Library and Archives Canada (LAC), RG9 III-D-3 Vol. 4911 Rell T-10703—War Diaries: Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, 1914–1915. The PPCLI was independently raised and funded by Montreal millionaire Captain Andrew Hamilton Gault. The PPCLI was absorbed by the 3rd Canadian Division on 22 December 1915.
12 Driss Maghraoui, ‘Moroccan Colonial Soldiers: Between Selective Memory and Collective Memory—Beyond Colonialism and Nationalism in North Africa’, Arab Studies Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 2, Spring 1998, pp. 21–25. All but 700 of the 5000 Moroccans engaged became casualties.
13 Shelby Cullom Davis, Reservoirs of Men: A History of the Black Troops of French West Africa, Negro Universities Press, Westport, 1970, pp. 142–43.
14 David Omissi, Indian Voices of the Great War: Soldiers’ Letters, 1914–1918, Macmillan Press Ltd., London, 1999, pp. 2–4. Also see by the same author The Sepoy and the Raj: The Indian Army, 1860–1940, Macmillan Press Ltd., London, 1994.
15 Lindsay Watson, ‘Better Than a One-Eyed Man: An Incomplete History of Queensland’s Indigenous Soldiers of the Boer War and World War One’, University of Queensland, 1999, p. 4.
16 Australian War Memorial, CN R940.4030994 A938—List of Australian Indigenous Servicemen who Served in World War One (Work in Progress), January 2007; Margaret Beadman (AWM)—Private Collection.
17 James W St G Walker, ‘Race and Recruitment in World War I: Enlistment of Visible Minorities in the Canadian Expeditionary Force’, Canadian Historical Review, LXX, I, 1989, p. 3.
18 Rod Pratt, ‘Queensland’s Aborigines in the First AIF’, Sabretache, Vol. XXXI, April/June 1990, p. 16.
19 As quoted in Ibid, p. 16.
20 NAA, A11803 1918/89/137—Voting in Conscription Referendum; AWM38 3DRL 6673/866—C E W Bean Collection—War Service Papers.
21 As quoted in Pratt, ‘Queensland’s Aborigines in the First AIF’, p. 17.
22 As quoted in David Huggonson, ‘The Dark Diggers of the AIF’ The Australian Quarterly, Vol. 61, No. 3, Spring 1989, p. 353.
23 AWM, CN R940.4030994 A938—List of Australian Indigenous Servicemen who Served in World War One (Work in Progress), January 2007; AWM27 533/1—Returns Showing Particulars of men of Aboriginal Percentage who Enlisted and Served abroad with the AIF; AWM41 914—Figures for the Australian Aborigines who Served in the War of 1914–1918 in AIF; Margaret Beadman (AWM)—Private Collection.
24 J W Bleakley, The Aborigines of Australia: Their History – Their Habits – Their Assimilation, The Jacaranda Press, Brisbane, 1961, p. 170.
25 Lindsay Watson, ‘Barambah or Cherbourg; It’s All the Same’ Kurbingui Star, No Date, p. 10.
26 Huggonson, ‘The Dark Diggers of the AIF’, p. 354.
27 David Huggonson, ‘Villers-Bretonneux: A Strange Name for an Aboriginal Burial Ground’, Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland, Vol. XIV, No. 7, May 1991, p. 287.
28 NAA B2455/1—3088591: First World War Service Records of Charles Tednee Blackman; 3088621: First World War Service Records of Alfred John Blackman; 3088646: First World War Service Records of Thomas Blackman.
29 AWM PR01679—Letters, Papers and Postcards from Charles Blackman to Mr J H Salter, Biggenden, Queensland. Letter dated 13 January 1917. Note: All quotations from the letters of Charles Blackman have been referenced with original spelling and punctuation to retain authenticity
30 NAA B2455/1—3088591; 3088621; 3088646.
31 AWM PR01679—Letters dated 1, 27 July 1917.
32 NAA B2455/1—3088591; 3088621; 3088646. Thomas, however, was absent without leave (AWL) for six days between 23 August and 29 August. He was given fourteen days of Field Punishment No. 2 (hard labour, although unlike No. 1 was not shackled or otherwise secured) and forfeited seven days’ pay. Thomas would be punished for the same offence (AWL from 15 June to 20 June 1918) and given twenty-one days’ No. 2 and twenty-seven days’ of forfeited pay. In actuality, Alfred had been charged for overstaying leave while in Australia during training in January 1917 and Charles was reprimanded for overstaying leave in July 1918.
33 NAA B2455/1—3088621.
34 AWM PR01679—Letters dated 15, 29 October, 23 November 1917.
35 NAA B2455/1—3088591.
36 AWM PR01679—Letters dated 15, 22 June, 6 July 1918.
37 NAA B2455/1—3088591; 3088646.
38 NAA, A2487/1 217220—Repatriation of Corporal Charles Blackman, 1921.
39 NAA, A2487 1919/3202—Position of the Australian Aboriginal Soldier. Memorandum from Ministry of Defence, Melbourne to Department of Repatriation, NSW, 12 April 1919. At some point between 1922 and 1958 Charles Tednee Blackman changed his name to Charles Thomas Graham for unknown reasons. Charles went on to work for the Cardwell Shire Council in Tully, Queensland, as a labourer and bush scout.
40 NAA, A2487 1919/3202—Position of the Australian Aboriginal Soldier; K S Inglis, Sacred Places: War Memorials in the Australian Landscape, The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, 1998, pp. 457–58.
41 AWM, CN R940.4030994 A938—List of Australian Indigenous Servicemen who Served in World War One (Work in Progress), January 2007; AWM27 533/1—Returns Showing Particulars of men of Aboriginal Percentage who Enlisted and Served abroad with the A.I.F.
42 Huggonson, ‘The Dark Diggers of the AIF’, p. 353.
43 AWM41 914—Figures for the Australian Aborigines who Served in the War of 1914–1918 in AIF and were killed, wounded, not wounded; Andrews, The Anzac Illusion: Anglo-Australian Relations during World War I, p. 216; Margaret Beadman (AWM), Private Collection.
44 The composition of Indigenous population is an estimate based on figures from 1926, as Indigenes were never included in any federal or state censuses. However, most scholarship gives the Indigenous population during the war between 70,000–80,000; therefore, the 1926 figure of 74,398 is a reasonable estimate. Torres Strait Islands is not a state, rather a distinct geographical area. Although one is known to have enlisted, there are possibly ten others who are as of yet unconfirmed.
