Abstract
During the Second World War, the Services faced a dilemma
concerning the enlistment of Aborigines and Torres Strait
Islanders: would they conform to the Commonwealth
government’s assimilationist policy and permit the
enlistment of Aborigines who met enlistment criteria, or
would they maintain their conservative ethos, arguing that
Aborigines should not be admitted to military service?
Aborigines and Islanders had much to gain from admission.
Military service offered employment, overseas travel, trade
training and other benefits. But most importantly, it
offered a persuasive argument for the extension to
Aborigines of ’citizens ’ rights'. While Aborigines and
Islanders sought enlistment, the Services struggled with
their dilemma. The absence of an Aboriginal representation
within the digger myth suggests that Aborigines were
generally unsuccessful in making a contribution to the war
effort and that the Services resolved their dilemma by
excluding Aborigines from service.
To investigate this issue, the development of Service
policies in regard to the enlistment of non-Europeans was
examined and the extent of Aboriginal and Islander
enlistment was assessed. The formation of other
relationships between the Services and Aborigines was also
examined.
Aborigines and Islanders made a significant contribution
to the war effort, but the moral value of this contribution
as a means of securing improvements in conditions for
Aborigines was not able to be translated into political
pressure because of lack of publicity given to the
Aboriginal contribution. Throughout the war, the Services
remained undecided about the question of the admission of
Aborigines. They resolved their dilemma by maintaining the
fiction of opposition to Aboriginal enlistment in their
official policies while at the same time enlisting
Aborigines, forming segregated Islander units, employing
Aborigines in de facto military roles and employing
Aborigines as civilian labourers.
Although formal Service policies denied Aborigines the
right to enlist, many did so. Once enlisted, relations
between black and white servicemen were marked by an
egalitarianism seldom seen in pre-war race relations.
Throughout the war, Service policy makers in senior
Headquarters saw Aborigines as generally unsuitable for
enlistment on the grounds that white Australians would not
tolerate service with them. This perception was not shared
by the common soldier who came into contact with Aboriginal
servicemen or women. Despite their policies, the Services
made significant use of Aboriginal and Islander manpower in
a variety of ways. Aborigines and Islanders deserve to be
recognised as having made a considerable contribution to
the national war effort.