qanzac100

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island war heroes ‘vanished’ from the Anzac legend Don't miss out on the headlines from City East. Followed categories will be added to My News. Follow Horace Dalton was so keen to fight for his country in 1918, he lied about his “substantial European” origins in order to enlist. The 19-year-old Queenslander signed up in May, and by August was disembarking in Suez, Egypt, to begin training for the Australian Light Horse Remount Unit. The young indigenous trooper would fight in the 11th Light Horse Regiment in Egypt for the next year before he was hospitalized with an ear infection and discharged. It was a short service, but one he gave proudly for the rights and freedoms of his fellow Australians. Sadly, when he returned home in 1919 he found he had few of his own. Like so many indigenous diggers, Trooper Dalton’s homecoming was marred by racism and inequality. It would be 56 years after his death that his contribution would be honored in military service in Ipswich. Some came back to find their children had been taken away or their homes on mission stations were carved up for soldier settlements and distributed to white war veterans – only three Aboriginal servicemen who served in World War I received a land grant. They were not even allowed into their local RSL to buy a beer and many were prevented from marching on Anzac Day. “It’s like we vanished,” Gary Oakley, indigenous liaison officer for the Australian War Memorial, said. “Many (soldiers) came back from war, took the uniform off, hung it up in the wardrobe and went back to work. Most indigenous people came back to no job.” Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/city-east/aboriginal-...

Thomas joined his brothers Charles and Alfred Blackman. Alfred and Thomas were both injured in the same battle: Thomas suffered from “shell-shock”. He is also listed as A.W.L. (Absent Without Leave) for a period after Alfred died of his wounds. Thomas returned to Australia on the 17th of December 1918. His other brother Charles also returned to Australia on the 12th April 1919. Some years later Thomas Blackman wrote to Caroline Tennant-Kelly, an anthropologist who worked in Barambah, asking her to intervene on his behalf regarding his forced removal to Cherbourg by the Chief Protector. He feels victimized as a former WW1 digger and questions why he has had his exemption removed after serving his King and country. (See his letter in full, below p.x) “Shell shock” was a term used to describe the reaction of some soldiers in World War I to the trauma of battle. It could include symptoms as varied as panic, intense fear, horror, and an inability to reason, sleep, walk, or talk. During the war, cases of “shell shock” could be interpreted as either physical or psychological, or even as a lack of “moral fiber”. Many soldiers never fully recovered from the horrors of war and brought these symptoms home with them. At the time of WWI, none of these conditions were properly recognized or understood. Limited support and treatment were offered to those who presented with symptoms, which today are described as PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. We must recognize the toll that war takes on individuals and show understanding and compassion to those who suffer as a result of their sacrifice and service. Source: cherbourgmemory.org/profiles/thomas-blackman/

The friends of a World War One aboriginal soldier raised funds to erect a headstone for their fallen comrade`s unmarked grave in Cairns, in far north Queensland. Harry Doyle was taken from his home on Fraser Island to Yarrabah and lied about his age to enlist with the Light Horse. Despite his youth, he joined the army on May 23, 1917 and was shipped on the HMAS Ulysses to the Middle East with the rest of his unit. He went on to fight in the famous charge at Beersheba in Palestine. At sunset on October 31, 1917, the 4th Australian Light Horse Brigade were ordered to gallop under fire and take the town of Beersheba. In the battle, 31 Australians were killed and another 36 were injured, but the Diggers took more than 700 Turkish prisoners. Harry Doyle survived the war and resettled in Cairns in the early 1950s. When he died in 1967 aged 66 he was buried in an unmarked grave at the Martyn Street cemetery . Source: monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/people/indigenous/display...

12 November, 2008 12:22AM AEST Lost World War I soldier given a tombstone By Liam Fox The final resting place of an Aboriginal World War I veteran has finally been marked in Far North Queensland more than 40 years after his death. Harry Doyle was a 16 year old from Yarrabah when he lied about his age to enlist in the imperial army and went on to fight with the 11th Light Horse Regiment in the Middle East in 1917. Trooper Doyle died in 1967 in Cairns but his grave site was unmarked until friend Rose Colless tried to find it. Ms Colless lead an effort to raise funds for a headstone. Today, friends and relatives gathered to see it blessed during a ceremony that included the traditional minute's silence on Remembrance Day. Retired Navy Commander, Mick Storrs, feels it's important Trooper Doyle's contribution has been recognised. "Harry's laid here for 40 years unrecognised so it brings it to an appropriate conclusion that we can honour his memory on a very appropriate day," he says. Trooper Doyle's simple headstone describes him as a beloved friend and relative. Source: www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2008/11/12/2417040.htm