logo
Why this photo of a group of men in Australia highlights a very tragic reality about our nation's past

Why this photo of a group of men in Australia highlights a very tragic reality about our nation's past

Daily Mail​25-04-2025

A single photo of Aboriginal soldiers has sparked many Australians to remember their service during the war.
The black and white image, originally published by The Argus in 1940, recently resurfaced on social media.
It shows 14 proud volunteers from Lake Tyers in Victoria, seated in two neat rows, smiling for the camera as they wait to receive their Second Australian Imperial Force uniforms.
These men would soon be sent to fight in the Second World War - serving a country that, upon their return, failed to honour them equally.
Shared the day before Anzac Day, commenters were touched by the photo and echoed the sentiment written in the caption: 'Lest we forget.'
But it also spurred conversation about how Aboriginal veterans weren't treated equally when they came home.
'If they came back, they had no rights to receive benefits as their white mates,' one user said.
'Returned Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service men and women were often denied the honour and rights given to other returned servicemen and women.'
Another said: 'Brave men. Shameful history as they were never treated equally on their return.'
A spokesperson from the Department of Veterans' Affairs said Indigenous people have a proud history of serving in the Australian military.
'The contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to our modern military history dates back to the Boer War, over 120 years ago.'
According to the Australian War Memorial, many Indigenous Australians who served their country with courage returned home only to face the same discrimination they had endured before enlisting.
Despite their military service, most were excluded from joining RSL clubs - allowed in only on Anzac Day - and were often turned away from hotels and pubs.
They continued to encounter widespread prejudice in employment, access to veterans' benefits, and daily life.
The Soldier Settlement Scheme, which was meant to help returning servicemen by offering land, was largely inaccessible to Aboriginal veterans. While a few succeeded, many were denied land and the support that came with it.
Lake Tyers Mission located in Victoria's East Gippsland and established in 1861, was designated by the state government as a site to relocate and concentrate Aboriginal people from across the state.
They were forcibly relocated there from reserves at Coranderrk, Ebenezer and Lake Condah reserves, the memorial said.
The reserve lands were then dispersed as soldier settler blocks for returned servicemen from the First World War, later described as 'the second dispossession' of Aboriginal people.
At the beginning of the Second World War, Indigenous people were not allowed to serve in the military, with many enlisting by claiming another nationality in a bid to fight for the country.
As the war progressed, this changed and thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people served the nation with distinction.
Current estimates are that 1,000 to 1,300 Indigenous Australians fought in the First World War, of whom around 250 to 300 made the ultimate sacrifice.
During the Second World War, an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people served in the Australian military.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Raploch war memorial plans take next step as long-running project moves closer
Raploch war memorial plans take next step as long-running project moves closer

Daily Record

time7 hours ago

  • Daily Record

Raploch war memorial plans take next step as long-running project moves closer

The group behind the memorial plans have found more than 120 men and women who served in World War Two from the area - with hopes to commemorate their sacrifice with a permanent monument. Raploch is stepping closer to achieving its goal of creating a lasting monument to its war dead. Rev Barry Hughes and Raploch Community Council have now lodged a planning application with Stirling Council planners to install the memorial at the north west corner of Raploch Community Campus on Drip Road. ‌ A fundraising campaign was launched last year in a bid to raise £30,000 for the war memorial to honour the community's fallen. ‌ In 2019, two local residents discovered not only the names of over 60 local men who served their country and were among the fallen of World War II, but also where they had lived in Raploch. This discovery gave the impetus for a project to build a war memorial in the Village Square outside the Raploch Community Campus, to commemorate all those from Raploch who have lost their lives in conflict. The Raploch War Memorial Group formed and then discovered over 120 men and women who also served during World War II and were injured, prisoners of war or awarded and recognised for their actions during service. They also aim to honour these men and women with a history book that has some of the stories they have discovered. The group said last year: 'We are pleased to announce that we are now in a position to begin our fundraising for the war memorial. 'It has taken us longer than we expected but we didn't want to start this process until we had everything in place to begin the official application for planning permission. ‌ 'We are hoping to raise £30,000 to fund the construction of the war memorial.' A public consultation in the area in 2022 asked people to vote on a number of options for the memorial. Asked what they would prefer to see on the memorial, 55 per cent said a list of the names of the fallen in all conflicts of the 20th/21st centuries; 30 per cent said a tribute quote to all the fallen in all conflicts; 7.5 per cent opted for only a list of the names of the fallen in World War II; and 7.5 per cent went for 'other'. ‌ A second question asking people whether the top two winning designs and quote from a local children's war memorial design competition should be included saw 94.59 per cent of respondents say yes, with 5.41 per cent saying no and 2.7 per cent unsure. The proposals for the permanent memorial to the fallen were dreamt up by local pensioner Mick Lowe and partnerships with local groups including Raploch Community Partnership, St Mark's and St Margaret's, Stirling Council and the Salvation Army have been formed for the project. The project came about after pensioner Mick began researching soldiers to find out more about his dad John, who died in 1948 after being a prisoner of war during World War Two. ‌ Mick discovered a total of 68 soldiers who died during the Second World War from Raploch. But the proposals would see a war memorial erected to pay tribute to the casualties from several conflicts who originally hailed from Raploch. Six streets in a new housing development being built in Raploch are also being named after men from the area who died in World War Two. Brewster Crescent, Fairley Crescent, Hulston Road, Turner Street, Spencer Place and McDonald Court, will become lasting legacies of six of those who lost their lives in the conflict, and their fellow fallen comrades from the community. Private Robert Brewster of 21 Hawthorn Crescent, Pte John Fairley of 43D Raploch Road, Pte William Hulston of 8 Hawthorn Crescent, Pte James Turner of 23 Hawthorn Crescent, Pte Ian Spencer of 4 Haig Avenue, and Pte James McDonald of 64 Drip Road are amongst a list of 48 names compiled by Raploch man Mr Lowe. The formal planning application lodged last week states: 'Raploch Community Council wishes to erect a war memorial adjacent to the Raploch community campus building. 'The war memorial will be 2000mm x 1500m wide, will be set on a raised foundation, and then be 2860mm high; it will be made out of sandstone.'

Large part of Scottish island owned by famed shark hunter for sale
Large part of Scottish island owned by famed shark hunter for sale

Scotsman

time17 hours ago

  • Scotsman

Large part of Scottish island owned by famed shark hunter for sale

Tex Geddes was a legendary shark hunter - plus boxer, knife thrower and all round adventurer - who made his life on Soay in the Inner Hebrides. Sign up to our History and Heritage newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The home of a famed shark hunter in Scotland - and a large part of the island where he lived and worked - has come up for sale. Tex Geddes made his home on Soay, off the isle of Skye, after buying the island from his business partner, the naturalist Gavin Maxwell, in 1952. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The pair hunted basking sharks around the Inner and Outer Hebrides and ran a processing plant on Soay to process the lucrative oil found in their liver, with the animals hunted in west coast waters for more than 200 years for the commodity. Now, the house of Tex Geddes, who died in 1998, is being sold on by his family. The sale includes around 1,500 acres of croftland - around 60 per cent of the entire island - with offers over £975,000 sought for the property. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Agents Strutt & Parker said the sale was an 'extremely rare opportunity' to buy the property, which covered a 'large portion' of Soay. A statement said: 'The Island of Soay is located in one the most dramatic settings in the western highlands, located in the middle of Loch Scavaig 'Lying in the shadow of the iconic Black Cuillin mountains of Skye to the north, the island also enjoys panoramic views to the mountains of Knoydart and Ardnamurchan in the east. 'The other inner Hebridean islands of Eigg, Much, Rhum and Canna also provide an interesting sea scape to the west.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Mr Geddes' former home, which is in need of complete upgrading, sits on the shore of Camus nan Gall, where 'various other properties' owned by third parties can be found. The house is traditional stone and slate, with two public rooms on the ground floor and two bedrooms and bathroom on the first floor. A former meeting place or hall has been built onto the southern gable. Access to Soay is by boat from Elgol on Skye. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Mr Geddes, who was also regarded as a boxer, a knife thrower and rum runner, bought Soay with his wife Jeanne. He earlier met Mr Maxwell at Meoble Lodge near Lochailort, a special operations training base during the Second World War. In his autobiography Hebridean Sharker, Mr Geddes, originally from Peterhead, described harpooning a 'great number of sharks first of all with hand harpoons' with Mr Maxwell, much in the 'fashion of Moby Dick'. He added: 'In retrospect some of our early hand harpoons appeared ridiculously inadequate; we might as well have tried to catch a shark with a kitchen fork.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Mr Geddes said he would never forget the spectacle of towing his first shark into Mallaig harbour 'should I live to be a hundred'. Life on Soay also became the theme of a book, Island on the Edge, written by Anne Cholawo, who relocated there from London. Agents said the new owners of the house and 1,500 acres of Soay would acquire an 'interesting mixture' of land, including pasture, rough grazing and woodlands - along with eight named hill lochs. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A statement added: 'The land provides an interesting habitat and topography and offers an excellent opportunity for a purchaser to explore environmental and woodland schemes and to enjoy the natural capital of the land and surroundings. 'There is also a population of red deer on Soay which offers some stalking for sport and management purposes.'

Eisteddfod Chair from WWI refugee stars in Aberystwyth exhibition
Eisteddfod Chair from WWI refugee stars in Aberystwyth exhibition

Cambrian News

time3 days ago

  • Cambrian News

Eisteddfod Chair from WWI refugee stars in Aberystwyth exhibition

Andrea Hammel, Professor of German and Director of the Centre for the Movement of People, said: 'This exhibition aims to highlight the long history of displacement caused by war. While last month's commemorations of the end of the Second World War in Europe focused mainly on combatants and local communities, we want to show the experience of those who had to leave their homes. By 1945 there were 60 million displaced people in Europe alone, and Wales provided sanctuary to many.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store