ISSUE 24 : Sep/Oct - 1980 - Australian Defence Force Journal

30 DEFENCE FORCE JOURNAL No. 24, SEPT. OCT. 80"...the provisions of Section 61(l)(h) and 138(l)(b) of the Defence Act and AMR&O177(1) must be adhered to.This precludes the enlistment of fullbloodedaborigines, but, in deciding whetheror not a person with some aboriginal blood isor is not substantially of European origin ordescent, medical officers will be guided bygeneralsuitability of the applicant and by thelaws and practices of the State or Territory inwhich the enlistment takes place 8While the Army required a means of excludingunsuitable applicants from enlistment, the useof the applicant's race as a means of exclusionwas bound to lead to the charge that the Armywas practising racism. The Military Boarddecision however, did possess an importantasset from the Army point of view; flexibility.The Army could adjust the acceptability ofAboriginal recruits to meet changes in thedemand for manpower and in this regard theMilitary Board decision represented animprovement over the earlier completeexclusion of Aborigines.Protest at the decision came however, on 4January 1942, when a Sydney newspaperpublished an article concerning an Aboriginefrom Murwillumbah who attempted to join theAIF and was passed medically fit at theMurwillumbah recruiting centre. He and twoother Aborigines from Grafton were sent toSydney, but on arrival were immediatelyreturned without explanation. Public reactionto the incident resulted in pressure beingapplied to the Army and the CommonwealthGovernment, to accept Aboriginal soldiers 9By early 1942 the Japanese advance and thedwindling availability of manpower werebeginning to apply a more effective pressure tothe Army. On 19 February 1942, Darwin wasbombed and fear of a Japanese invasionreached a peak. By March, the demand foradditional manpower to meet the threat ofinvasion had become so acute that theremaining classes of men; those of the mostmarginal military value, were called up'" Atthis stage, the Army began to relax its attitudeto the enlistment of Aborigines and althoughthe wording of the orders did not change,Aborigines began to be enlisted in relativelylarge numbers. Despite the discriminatorynature of recruiting policy, those Aborigineswho succeeded in becoming enlisted membersof the Army, and who served in raciallyintergrated Army units, enjoyed an equalitymany of them seldom experienced in the prewarcivilian evironment. Pay and conditionswere identical with those enjoyed by whitesoldiers while opportunities for advancementexisted for Aborigines possessing leadershipqualities. Reg Saunders, for example, rose fromthe rank of private soldier to that of lieutenantduring the course of the war though his was anexceptional case.Though up to this time the Army had usedthe orders to restrict the entry of Aboriginesand part-Aborigines into most parts of theAustralian Army, it had simultaneously beenraising racially segregated units manned almostentirely by persons of non-European origin ordescent. The Torres Strait Defence Force andthe Northern Territory Special ReconnaissanceUnit were examples of this inconsistency.The Torres Strait Defence Force wasmanned, below the rank of sergeant, by TorresStrait Islanders, mainland Aborigines and someAustralian Malays. War Establismentauthorised the raising of the following:UnitTorres Strait Light Infantry BattalionCoast Artillery-Torres StraitHQ of a Water Transport Group (Small Craft)32 Australian Water Transport Maintenance Company (SmallCraft) Royal Australian Engineers14 Australian Water Transport Operating Companv (SmallCraft) Royal Australian EngineersTorres Strait Pioneer CompanyTOTAL 12TotalStrength48841363Native"Strength44033543WhiteStrength487820206 67 39346260776239231135510729421