ACTIVITY 1: Anzac Diversity
Keeping Australia British.
Before 1901 Australia did not exist. Instead there were six colonies, New South Wales, Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria, Queensland, and
Western Australia. These colonies were more like six separate countries all relying on Britain for trade and military protection. There was very little communication between the colonies, they acted more like rivals. By the 1880's over 70% of the population was Australian born. A strong sense of nationalism began to develop over time. As a result of years of negotiations Australia was formed as a Federation of States into one nation.
However, by 1901, 98% of people in Australia were of British heritage.
As a Nation the population wanted to remain a country of white people who lived by
British customs. Trade unions were keen to prevent labour competition
from Chinese and Pacific Islander migrants who they feared would
undercut wages.
One of the first pieces of legislation passed by the new Federal Parliament was the Immigration Restriction Act. This became known as the White Australia Policy it, along with the Pacific Islander Labourers Act and the Post and Telegraph Act 1901, made it virtually impossible for Asians and Pacific Islanders to migrate to Australia. The Post and Telegraph Act 1901 said that only white people could be employed as contractors (Section 16:1). To learn more about the
White Australia Policy visit the link and watch the video.
The Call to Enlist
When the First World War began in Europe (1914-1918), Australia supported the British Alliances and volunteers were called for. Men and women from
all over Australia
were quick to answer the call. Over 420,000 Australians enlisted
including nurses, Indigenous Australians, and Australians with British,
Asian, Greek and Northern European heritage.
The
Commonwealth Defense Act of 1909, in keeping with the White Australia Policy prevented anyone not
“substantially of European descent” from enlisting. Despite this many
said to be unsuitable managed to enlist and serve with distinction and
bravery.
Question 1
Look at the
propaganda poster above
a. What do you think the poster is trying to say?
b. What type of volunteers are being called to enlist?
The “substantially of European origin” rule.
Non-European
looking Australians were discriminated against, although many tried to
enlist. As with the age and health standards over a 1,000 Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people were still accepted for enlistment,
apparently because their racial background was overlooked if they had
not lived in a tribal environment. Even a few “full-blooded” Indigenous
Australians (like
Douglas Grant
and
Frederick Prentice) were accepted because they had been raised in
white households. In 1917 the rule was modified to accept men who could
satisfy a medical officer that they had “one parent of European origin”.
Enlistment Standards
For many volunteers,
enlisting was difficult. During the first year of enlistment 33% were rejected. The initial health and fitness standard excluded those who were under-height, under weight or had poor teeth or poor eye-sight. These
Enlistment Standards were strictly adhered to until later when volunteer numbers began to fall the standards became less strict.
In August 1914 were 19–38 years, height of 5ft 6in
and chest measurement of 34 inches. These were changed in June 1915 the age range was changed to 18-45 years and the minimum height changed to 5ft 2in, The minimum height was changed again in April 1917to 5ft.
On enlistment recruits were examined for BC or D tattooed on their
skin. These were British army tattoos. BC stood for bad character and D
for deserter.
Very few articles can be found regarding the role religion played during the war. However, each enlistee was required to list their religion. The four largest faiths in Australia were the Church of England, Presbyterians, Methodists and Catholics.
While sectarianism existed within Australian society, this was not violent. Society tended to coexist with protestants tending to idealize conservative British principles and the Catholics in opposition developing more socially orientated platforms that founded the Labor party.
There is evidence of direct discrimination against Catholics and Jews. This tended to manifest itself in the form of exclusion from certain exclusive clubs. Inter-faith marriages could produce animosity within families.
While small in number the
Australian Jewish community was well represented among the ANZACs. Fifty-seven gave their lives at Gallipoli.
Sir John Monash,
for example came from Prussian Jewish origins. While he did receive
some negative criticism from anti-Semitic journalists he rose to become
our most highly regarded General.
While the proportion of those from the Protestant faiths (Church of England, Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans and Congregationalists) out numbered the number of Catholic enlistees it should be noted just as society segregated non-whites once on the battlefield these in race and religion differences meant little.
The Australian War Memorial (AWM)site provides a number of
case studies for you to investigate investigate some of the soldiers who would have been considered as being not "substantially of European origin".
Chinese:
 |
| Billy Sing |
As many as 200 soldiers of
Chinese descent born
in Australia also enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. Most of
the Chinese volunteers were from Victoria. They were born to parents who
had come to Australia during the Gold Rush.
The most famous of these was
William "Billy" Sing. Billy Sing was known as "the Assassin" or "the Murderer" he was a sniper at Gallipoli.
 |
| Leslie Kew-Ming |
Another was
Leslie Kew-Ming, he was awarded a Military Medal, and promoted through the
ranks to sergeant during his time in the AIF. He also was a skilled
footballer, cricketer, and runner. After the War he continued his athletic career.
While China did not enter the War a great many Chinese enlisted in the
Chinese Labor Corps and worked with the British and French armies. Their contribution to the war effort is only now being appreciated.
 |
| The Chinese Labour Corps were contracted labourers from China. |
Sikhs:
Sikhs fought alongside the ANZACs at Gallipoli. The 14th Sikh
Regiment suffering possibly the highest casualty rate of any force
during the Gallipoli campaign. Only 4 survived and the regiment was virtually wiped out.
These Sikhs were mostly from India, but research by
Australian Sikh Heritage has also identified ten Sikhs from Australia who served as part
of the Australian Imperial Force during WWI.
Many
people moved to Australia during the Gold Rush. Some, as in South
Australia, relocated their families because of religious persecution.
These immigrants volunteered to fight for their
adopted country.
In
South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria local German
communities were viewed with suspicion. Some were sent to camps. They
were accused of disloyalty and of spying. Despite this many German
Australians showed their allegiance to their country by enlisting.
Joseph Brandebura
was one of 969 Russian citizens who enlisted in the Australian Imperial
Force rather than return to Russia when conscripted into the Russian
Army.
Emaniol Salikis was
born in Samos, Greece in about 1892. As a young man he immigrated to
Australia, settling in Victoria. In 1915 he became a Naturalized
British citizen and enlisted in the Army.
Question 2: Why do you think these particular non white soldiers were able to
enlist when others could not?
Choose one case study and investigate
their enlistment and attestation papers. Use these primary documents to
support your reasons.
Place your answers to Question 1 and 2 in your folio. Your answers should be no more than two paragraphs in length for each question. Question 2 is a PowerPoint slide presentation.
You will be assessed on
- your spelling and grammar,
- your ability to find information and present that information clearly.
- your ability to make an informed opinion based on your research of primary documents.
