When  Alfred ‘Tiny’ Ryan, Aboriginal boxer and then member of the 2 Battalion, served on Gallipoli  he did not envisage that after the war this service and that of other Aboriginal men would be ignored by his country.

in June 1915, as he lay wounded in hospital in Egypt, he wrote to a friend in the boxing world

The landing at Gaba-tepe, I suppose is just as well known to you as it is to us here, only we have really been on the soil where it took place — never to be forgotten ever in the history of the world. Australia may well be proud and boast of her loyal sons.

 He was killed in France in 1917 so did not live to see the future exclusion of him and his country men from the Anzac legend.

Yet despite this omission and continuing prohibitions, Aboriginal men again volunteered and in larger numbers, for the Second World War.   What makes their service different was that they had seen the shabby treatment experienced by the veterans of the First World War  – yet still they volunteered.  

Official recognition has now been achieved – after a long battle Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander servicemen have assumed their rightful place in Australia’s history but the early history of the treatment of these volunteers must not be forgotten.

 More on Tiny Ryan can be found in my post https://indigenous-histories.com/2017/04/25/alfred-tiny-ryan-the-boxing-soldier/

Philippa Scarlett

25 April 2025