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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

The Australian Government acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and acknowledges their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to the people, the cultures and the Elders past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices and names of deceased persons.

Lest We Forget: Commemorating Indigenous Service

Culture and Capability
Black and white archive photo of Reg Saunders, an Indigenous man, wearing an Australian Army. He is outside and pictured in profile, facing right.

At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day in the eleventh month of 1918, the guns of the Western Front fell silent after four bloody years of warfare. More than a century later, we still pause on the anniversary of the armistice that ended the First World War – a date which has since become Remembrance Day.

In commemoration of Remembrance Day, we have compiled a number of stories and resources published in recognition of the thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women who have served Australia in wars and conflicts.

  • Learn more about Gunditjmara man Reg Saunders, who became the first Indigenous commissioned officer in the Australian Army, during the Second World War.
  • Meet Mebai Warusam from Saibai Island in the Torres Strait, who served during WWII in the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion (TSLIB) - Australia’s first and only all-Indigenous unit.
  • Recognise the extraordinary bravery of WWII digger Clarence Atkinson, who was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
  • Honour Roland Carter, a Ngarrindjeri man who enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force during WWI and ended up in a German prisoner of war camp.
  • Read about brave Bill Coolburra, who helped to clear tunnel systems constructed by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War.
  • Read more about Dolly Gurinyi Batcho, a Larrakia woman who served in the Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS) in the Northern Territory.
  • Remember the sacrifice of the Aboriginal diggers who became “sons of France”.
  • Meet Cheryl Neal, a Darug and Yuin woman who has served in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) since 1987.

Find out more

To learn more about Indigenous servicemen and women, visit the Australian War Memorial’s website.