They Fought With Honour for their Country
Indigenous archive AUSTRALIA'S FIRST WAR VETERANS The Aborigine People of the Australian War (1788-1901) On 29 April 1770 Aboriginal people lined the shores of Botany Bay shouting "Wirra wirra wai" / "Go away!" in their own language as the HMB Endeavour under the command of Lt. James Cook sailed in and dropped anchor. When Cook and members of his crew then attempted to land from a small boat they were opposed to two Aboriginal warriors. Cook subsequently shot the men and thereby forced a landing. A couple of months later, and in direct defiance of his orders, Cook claimed the east coast of the continent in the name of the British king. In January 1788 the British invaded the island continent now known as Australia with the so-called First Fleet, composed of military personnel, administrators and convicts. Over the following years those invaders would use all their power, resources, and weaponry to subjugate the Indigenous people, in a war herein referred...