25-04-2025
Why this photo of a group of men in Australia highlights a very tragic reality about our nation's past
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.
