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The Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force and the Royal Australian Navy had their rules which excluded persons who were not substantially of European origin or descent from enlisting in the services prior to the start of WW2.

Many Aboriginal soldiers were able to enlist by stating that they were of Indian or Maori descent. With the immediate threat of a possible Japanese invasion, the three militarily services were forced to allow the enlistment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and other Islanders such as the Tiwi from Melville Island. These enlisted started in about 1941/1942. Approximately 3000 Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginal Australians fought in WW2.

You can find more about Australia's involvement in WW2, with some information about Aboriginals included, here: http://www.anzacday.org.au/history/ww2/homefront/overview.html

Here are some interesting facts specifically about Aboriginal assistance in WW2:

http://www.ozatwar.com/atsi/defendaustralia.htm

A Google search will also offer lots of links to pages.

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17y ago

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