aboriginalsoldiers

CUBBO JOHN Private 3121A, 5th Light Horse Regiment Born Kilkivan, Queensland Enlisted Re- 1st June 1918 Occupation at enlistment Station Hand Remark Embarked Sydney “Port Darwin” 14th September 1918Listed in DVD Cherbourg Returned to Australia “Madras” 5th August 1919 Discharged Source: www.southburnett.qld.gov.au/directory-record/565/cubbo-john 20th August 1919

The attestation (enlistment) paper notes that Frank Fisher enlisted in World War I on 16 August 1917, at age 37. The document does not indicate that he was of Aboriginal descent, however his permanent address is listed as ‘Barambah Aboriginal Reserve’ in Queensland (later known as Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement). * At the time of Frank Fisher's disembarkation in Egypt in January 1918, his unit, the 11th Light Horse Regiment, was resting and training. But by April it was involved in new operations against Turkish and German forces in Palestine which lasted until the end of October. Before it returned to Sydney in August, the regiment also helped to quell the Egyptian revolt against British rule that erupted in March 1919. Fisher was discharged in September 1919. * Fisher's attestation paper reveals that he was married to Esme Fisher (listed as his next of kin), that he had three children, and that he allotted 'not less than three-fifths' of his pay during his overseas service for their support. * Esme Fisher wrote a letter to authorities concerning her difficulty in accessing her husband's military pay. Under Queensland legislation, the Chief Protector of Aboriginals controlled the wages of all Aboriginal people living on reserves and missions. To access this money, Aboriginal people had to get permission from the Chief Protector or a local Protector. * Fisher was the great-grandfather of champion Olympic sprinter Cathy Freeman. Freeman's grandfather, also Frank Fisher, attempted to enlist in World War II but was rejected because of his ethnicity. It wasn't until 1949 that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people could join the Australian military forces unrestricted. Source: www.naa.gov.au/students-and-teachers/learning-resources/l...

Indigenous Australian, Driver Walter COOCHY (aka Couchey), 7th, 23rd & 9th Field Artillery Brigades. Walter COOCHY was born in Gayndah, Qld. in 1893 and was working as a Horse Breaker when he enlisted 10 November 1915. Initially allotted to the Light Horse Regiment, on arrival in Egypt, he was transferred to the Artillery. These units sailed for England in May 1916 and trained at the Australian Army Training Depot, Parkhouse before embarking for France. Walter Couchy was first assigned to the 9th Field Artillery Brigade, then the 23rd, and finally in January 1917, the 7th. He was mustered to be a driver and served in the Western Front until being returned home at the end of the war, May 1919. His brother Edmund Coochy was not accepted to serve when he enlisted in July 1917 on the grounds of ‘no white parentage’. + Their surname is variously spelled – Coochy, Coochey, Couchy Source: ttps://centenary184.rssing.com/chan-39477427/all_p12.html