The treatment of Aboriginal soldiers after WWI | Further Back In Time For Dinner

"They were shot together, they died together, they buried each other together. There was no discrimination. Only discrimination they felt is when they came back home."
Joseph Flick’s grandfather, Mick Flick, enlisted and fought in World War I. The Defence Act at the time stated that those not substantially of European origin or descent were exempt from military service but this didn’t deter some Indigenous Australians. Current estimates are that over 1,000 Indigenous men served in WWI. #BackInTimeAU
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The Ferrones are back in Further Back In Time For Dinner, travelling further back 120 years to immerse themselves in five decades of Australian history. Annabel Crabb guides the Ferrone family through history as they cook, eat and live, from Federation to the 1940s.
Stream now on iview: ab.co/FurtherBackInTime
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I just want to tell you a little bit about my Grandfather, Mick Flick. Mick was an Aboriginal man from Western New South Wales. When war started Mick decided along with his mates that they would go off to War. The story within the family is they either walked 180 kilometres or rode a horse 180 kilometres, just to enlist.
What was driving those young men? Even though they were being told they weren't wanted, their services weren't wanted.
They would've been told about this great fight overseas and we have to go and defend the Motherland. As well as getting a fair go because Aboriginal people in those days were very poorly treated.

[@Nick-sd7um]

This should have millions of views.
One can't even begin to imagine what it must have felt like to be indigenous at that time and to go from Australia at a time where racism was rife including young indigenous kids being taken from their families, to being overseas fighting side be side and dying for the very country that wants nothing to do with you, whilst forming friendships and feeling equal to suddenly being back at home and crashing back to earth where they see that nothing has changed and people generally didn't care or even want to care about them despite throwing themselves into war.
And to think it wasn't even until after world war TWO that some indigenous were allowed to vote due to increased pressure on the government. Australia dragged its heels all the way to 1962 before allowing them all to vote.

[@timcolledge3732]

Those guys deserved much better.

[@pzy1146]

Proud to be aboriginal lest we forget all our aboriginal and Torres straight islander and everyone who served and our brothers and sisters who served and fought for this country ❤️🖤💛

[@walterzamalis4846]

Bless Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, bless their elders, youth and their veterans, bless their cotton socks from New Zealand
#alwayswasalwayswillbe #toostrongforyoukaren

[@edwardness7497]

this should be apart of Anzac day remembrances and celebrations... this perspective is strong enough to change the way many people think, and people will better understand how shameful we were as a nation

[@gae1234]

herro