Topic: AIF - Aboriginal LH
Reveille Articles
Aboriginals in the AIF
Article #1
In 1931, the RSL [Returned Serviceman's League], through their monthly magazine, Reveille, made an attempt to recognise the services given to the AIF by the Aboriginal members. This was quite a radical departure from the usual Australian social policy
Reveille, 30 September 1931, p 6.
[Click on document for larger version.]
The article deals specifically with the 11th Light Horse Regiment and a particular group of reinforcements. The reinforcement group mentioned is the 11th Light Horse Regiment, 20th Reinforcement, which embarked from Sydney, New South Wales on board the HMAT A38 Ulysses on 19 December 1917. Most of the reinforcements arrived for absorbtion in the 11th Light Horse Regiment by April 1918.
The full list of men involved in this reinforcement group may be found at the The AIF Project:
11th Light Horse Regiment, 20th Reinforcement
Those specifically identified as Aboriginal Light Horsemen include the following 29 men in this Reinforcement group:
2422 Pte William Bert Brown
2423 Pte Frederick Arthur Burnett
2424 Pte Edward Collins
2459 Pte Fred Collins
2458 Pte Samuel Cooper
2425 Pte Jack Costello
2426 Pte Harry Doyle
2428 Pte Frank Fisher
2427 Pte Joe Fitzroy
2462 Pte Rupert Franklin Gore Gallaway
2429 Pte John Geary
2460 Pte John Hall
2430 Pte John Johnston, Died of Wounds, 1 June 1918
2431 Pte Jack Kearns
2432 Pte John McKenzie Laurie
2433 Pte James Lingwoodock
2434 Pte Leonard Lynch
2438 Pte James Mcbride
2437 Pte David Molloy
2435 Pte Frank Morris
2458 Pte Martin Mulrooney
2436 Pte Harry Murray
2439 Pte William Nicholld
2440 Pte Jack Oliffe
2443 Pte Charlie Parkes
2441 Pte Jack Pollard
2445 Pte Edward Smith
2447 Pte Joe White
2448 Pte Leslie Thomas Wogas
Apart from four other men in this group, the 11th Light Horse Regiment, 20th Reinforcement was the only exclusively Aboriginal formation created within the AIF during the Great War and so holds a special place in the recognition of the Aboriginal participation of this conflict.
Article #2
This article in the November 1931 edition of Reveille was the follow up of the first article displayed above.
Reveille, 30 November 1931, p 22.
[Click on document for larger version.]
This was an important piece of work in the process of identifying those members of the AIF who were of Aboriginal origin. The list is far from complete and is of dubious accuracy but it does provide the researcher with some solid information. Where service numbersare given in the list, the accuracy of the list comes into its own. Notes by the Aboriginal Protectors of Victoria and Queensland are indicative and issued with the best knowledge available at the time. Spelling variations are not accounted for nor are a number of other factors which generally reduces the value of this list.
Additional Reading:
Aboriginal Light Horsemen Servicemen
Aboriginal Light Horsemen and AIF personnel
Citation: Reveille Articles on Aboriginals in the AIF
