They were not given any recognition until midway through the Vietnam War in 1967, when Aboriginal people were counted as Australian citizens.

As Richard Wynne, former Victorian State Aboriginal Affairs Minister said, “The Aboriginal Digger was unable to vote but eligible to die!.”

And it is only of recent times that Indigenous Australians have been recognised as the backbone of the cattle industry which helped feed soldiers in both world wars.

Two North West Queensland Aboriginal Diggers, Peter Craigie and Martin Connelly Snr were fully employed at the time of their enlistment although some Aboriginal people wanted to escape the poor conditions they were living in, the control of the protection boards and the constant racism and discrimination.

In true blue ocker-style, these men would have experienced the occasional army barrack room jibes, however overall they would have been treated on their merits, not race. And for both men the opportunity to travel and connect with other Aboriginal Diggers in conflict was an education not to have been missed.

Their self-confidence grew through war, while on return to Australian shores, they faced many challenges and disappointments, not least being the lack of recognition for their services in the army.

Many aspects of army life was mirrored in traditional Aboriginal culture; belonging to a group, where no one person is bigger than the group, the sharing of responsibility, hardship and danger – watching over and protecting each other, and the fierce loyalty to one’s people.

When Peter Craigie was discharged in 1919, he returned to North West Queensland and recommenced work as a drover (John Campbell Miles was yet to discover the rich ore bodies of Mount Isa) so he continued to drive cattle between the Northern Territory and Queensland.

However, droving was also affected during the depression years when station owners tightened their belts like everyone else, forcing Peter Craigie and his mates to try their hands at gouging.

His daughter, Olive Bohning said the copper he found was sold to feed the kids, noting it was hard work with a pick and shovel and not much else. The claim, known as the Peter Craigie mine, is near Dajarra in the heart of their Pitta Pitta country and is still in the family today.

“In those days”, Olive Bohning said.  “We all worked under the Aborigines Protection Act, which meant if a policeman didn’t like you, you could be sent to Palm Island.

“It didn’t matter if you had been in the army or anything like that, you could still be ordered around by the police.”

And there was no recompense for Aboriginal servicemen, no pay packet, no pension, no land packages, no on-going medical treatments for afflictions brought on by war, no War Widows’ Pension, no joining in Anzac Day marches and no military plaque on their grave.

For Peter Craigie’s descendants, daughter Olive Bohning, nephews Joe Rogers, Terry Craigie and Alfie Nathan and their families, he is remembered as a proud Aboriginal man who worked in opening up the cattle drive routes throughout Northern Australia, and died with dignity knowing he had served his family and country well.

The Defence Act 1903 was still enforce when World War II broke out and again Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were excluded from enlisting.

Only when there was a shortage of recruits and losses were high were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people allowed to join the forces. Cloncurry man, Martin Connelly was working as a powder monkey in a Bluff coal mine, outside of Rockhampton when he joined the army on June 9 1942 at the age of 37, making him one of the more mature enlistees.

Born in Burketown in 1905 to, Annie Whip, and Joseph Connelly an Irish national, his passage into the army was made all the easier due to the fact his father was a white man.

His previous knowledge and experience working with explosives was highly sought after in the army and after training in Wagga Wagga, he joined the 18 Field Company. These skills came to the fore as he diligently cleared pathways and defused the hidden Japanese land mines in the jungles of New Guinea.

His daughter-in-law, Pearl Connelly, recalled him being quietly proud of winning The King’s Award in training camp in Wagga Wagga, for not only being the fastest man, to pull a gun apart and put it back together again in the dark, but for his marksmanship – hitting the bullseye.

Martin did not experience the same indignities or at least not to the same extent as Peter Craigie on return from World War I, but still he had to wait nearly three decades before he was granted an army pension and retired from the railway.

By the time of his death, Aboriginal soldiers were rightfully given their Defence Force entitlements. Which meant for his wife Dorothy and his children Anne, Nedra, Martin Jnr and Warren and their families, Sapper Martin Connelly, Q268982 of the 18 Field Company, was one of the first Aboriginal soldiers from Mount Isa to be given a full military funeral service.

As Victor Churchill Dale wrote in his poem ‘The Dark Warrior’:

‘In the passing of my life, my soul will rest with my people

And the passing of my life, my soul will rest with my people

And my children will grow with their children

Please let us not make the same mistake twice …..’

Researched and written by Kim-Maree Burton   www.kimmareeburton.com. Photographs courtesy of Connelly Family and the North West Star.  Information sourced from Australian War Memorial archives, ATSIVSAA, Joe Rogers and Pearl Connelly and the North West Star.