‘We Were Good Enough to Fight as Anzacs’: Indigenous Australian War Service and Interwar Activism

Activism was an integral part of the legacy of Indigenous Australian First World War service. From the late 1910s to the Second World War, Indigenous service in the Australian Imperial Force was used by community campaigners and organised political activists to demonstrate Indigenous loyalty, ability, and fulfilment of the responsibilities of citizenship in the context of white Australia. Activists sought to use military service to secure greater citizenship rights against a backdrop of veterans’ movements, economic and political changes, and imperial turmoil.