Our Indigenous Heroes

This site is about Aboriginal Service men and women and their history in the armed forces of Australia and in some cases, we will vary our stories to include Commemorative Events and Important people.

To tell their stories, as we will, we must first give you some background about history that you may not know.

We all should know that 1788 saw the First Fleet arrive and so that was the beginning of the disruptions to the world of our Aboriginal tribes. Historians have outlined and documented very clearly what happened and no-one dare deny that these ‘Invaders’ were set on the extinction of the Aboriginal race. 

Fear of our Aboriginal people by the British and the settlers, nearly did see this race extinct. Thank goodness there were a few good men along the way that respected their ways and traditions and saw them as beneficial to the new colony. 

One of the best books we read was that of David Marr – Killing for Country. He spares no words, hides no secrets and just tells it as the historic documents have presented. An eye opener for any person who truly wants to learn about the past and our Aboriginal People. All of our team are very familiar with this book and have a great deal of respect for this author.

Hundreds of books have been written by historians, authors tell stories, but the true facts are what we seek to tell you all. 

Our website will tell you about these various historians and authors their books, articles, university papers, podcasts and interviews, as we seek to acknowledge those before us who have done the hard yards and documented their finds. They will be listed on our site and you will be given access on where to find them.

We will be searching for every writing that has ever been done about the Aboriginal Nations of our country and in particular the defence service of these men and women. These scripts are currently scattered across our nation, and one must have some knowledge of how to track these down in the World Wide Web, Libraries, Archives, Bookshops, Universities and such. There are also Memorial Boards, Honour Rolls in just about every town in Australia, with names of men and women that served, lost their lives or received accolades for their service. 

Our Aboriginal men and women quite often did not make those boards and lists, and after their service they drifted into the background. Not through any fault of their own, but society being ‘White’ and earlier operating under the ‘White Australian Policy’ did not deem it necessary to recognise their service. Not all mind you, but most.

Stories of them not being able to drink with their mates after standing side by side in the trenches with them, not going to the RSL, not being able to march…the list goes on and we are sure that you have not buried your heads in the sand as to what had happened in the past.

So we will not be rewriting the history books, or duplicating any information already out there, but simply bringing together in one place these references and letting you know where and how to access them. We can all learn and appreciate the work done by these authors of history.

Credit given where credit is due, is very close to our hearts as we commence our journey of Recognition and Acknowledgement, for our Indigenous families and our Historians.

We will be hoping that we can work closely with others who are on a similar path as us and see our website as an opportunity to further their research and add to others, making the site of historic Indigenous significance.