Inequalities of Sacrifice: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Labour in Northern Australia during the Second World War

Painting war: The end of contact rock art in Arnhem Land

“…Most research about Indigenous engagement during World War II concerns the wartime roles of Indigenous servicemen and women during this conflict (Ball 1991;Hall 1997). The reality for most Indigenous north Australians was not active service, but largely support roles through the provision of labour (Hall 1980(Hall , 1997Saunders 1995). In the past, the narrative of Indigenous Australian interactions with the Australian military has been considered from European perspectives, but more recently there has been a significant increase in literature discussing other roles of Indigenous participation in World War II (e.g.…”

“…Military activity leading up to and during World War II intensified in the region, given the role northern Australia had as a platform to conduct operations in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) (Grey 1999;Powell 1982). The global conflict had profound impacts on Indigenous communities across northern Australia, however the archaeological signature of these impacts is limited (Riseman 2007(Riseman , 2010(Riseman , 2012a(Riseman , 2012bSaunders 1995;Trudgen 2000).…”

Denis Murphy, the University of Queensland and Labour History, 1966–83: A Reassessment

“…UQ-trained historians remained prominent in such endeavours, most particularly Saunders, Evans, Scott and Joanne Watson, all of whom published articles on race in Labour History. 82 Increasingly, however, JCU became the leading Queensland centre in this field with notable contributions from Henry Reynolds and Dawn May. 83 It would be wrong, however, to believe that Queensland labour historians lost interest in "traditional" themes (unions, strikes and politics), these themes being covered in depth in Work & Strife in Paradise: The History of Labour Relations in Queensland 1859-2009, a collection of studies prepared for Queensland's sesquicentenary.…”

‘The families were … too poor to send them parcels’: The provision of comforts to Aboriginal soldiers in the AIF in the Second World War

“…6 In a similar way, the Aborigines Uplift Society's opinions as to Aboriginal people's living conditions would have been inflected by the standpoints of their predominantly white middle-class committees and membership. No doubt, though, the Society's Victorian members' views would have been at least in part informed by the 3 Hall 1997: 2;Saunders 1995: 131. 4 Thomson 2005 Aborigines Welfare Board Report for the Year Ended 30th June 1945, Parliament of New South Wales.…”