Loved, Honoured and Not Forgotten – the Aboriginal Diggers who are the Sons of France

In cemeteries surrounding the French town of Villers-Bretonneux lie the remains of 13 Aboriginal Diggers.

They died during World War I, fighting on a foreign land, protecting a people who knew them not, volunteers for a nation which, at the time, denied them basic human rights.

They could not vote nor receive the old-age pension and until 1916, they weren’t even wanted in a combatant role in the Australian Imperial Force.

Yet they served. And two thankful nations accepted their sacrifice.

For like their fellow Australian diggers, buried in the same cemeteries, they are not just the sons of grieving parents and of Australia, they are sons of France¹, loved, honoured and not forgotten.

They are:

• Coe, Private John Henry Alfred, 53^rd Battalion, Cowra, NSW

• Farmer, Corporal Augustus Pegg, 16^th Battalion, Katanning, WA

• Egan, Private William Alex, 60^th Battalion, Warrnambool, Vic.

• Firebrace, Private William Reginald, 24^th Battalion, Balranald, NSW

• Gage, Private Charles Alfred, 56^th Battalion, Eugowra, NSW

• Harris, Private James Gordon, 59^th Battalion, Healesville, Vic.

• Jenkins, Private Alexander, 18^th Battalion, Balmain, NSW

• Johnson, Private Wallie, 47^th Battalion, St. George, Qld.

• Lester, Private Alister Roy, 4^th Battalion, Singleton, NSW

• Lester, Private Augustus, 34^th Battalion, Singleton, NSW

• Martin, Private Richard, 47^th Battalion, Dunwich, Qld.

• Tripcony, Private Albert, 25^th Battalion, Dunwich, Qld.

• Varcoe, Private Francis Albon, 27^th Battalion, Point MacLeay Mission, SA

On Remembrance Day 2018, now 100 years since the end of World War I, we remember all ‘those who died or suffered in all wars and armed conflicts’.

And on this 100^th anniversary of the Armistice, we remember the service of, and in some cases, the ultimate sacrifice made by, the estimated 400-500 Aboriginal Australians who fought in World War 1².