Defending Whose Country?: Indigenous Soldiers in the Pacific War

by Noah Riseman

Overview

In the campaign against Japan in the Pacific during the Second World War, the armed forces of the United States, Australia, and the Australian colonies of Papua and New Guinea made use of indigenous peoples in new capacities. The United States had long used American Indians as soldiers and scouts in frontier conflicts and in wars with other nations. With the advent of the Navajo Code Talkers in the Pacific theater, Native servicemen were now being employed for contributions that were unique to their Native cultures. In contrast, Australia, Papua, and New Guinea had long attempted to keep indigenous peoples out of the armed forces altogether. With the threat of Japanese invasion, however, they began to bring indigenous peoples into the military as guerilla patrollers, coastwatchers, and regular soldiers.

Defending Whose Country? is a comparative study of the military participation of Papua New Guineans, Yolngu, and Navajos in the Pacific theater. In examining the decisions of state and military leaders to bring indigenous peoples into military service, as well as the decisions of indigenous individuals to serve in the armed forces, Noah Riseman reconsiders the impact of the largely forgotten contributions of indigenous soldiers in the Second World War.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780803237933
Publisher:	Nebraska
Publication date:	12/01/2012
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 6.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Noah Riseman is a senior lecturer in history at Australian Catholic University in Melbourne. This book is based on his dissertation, which won the 2009 C. E. W. Bean Prize for Military History.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vii

Preface ix

List of Abbreviations xiii

Introduction: Reading Colonialism and Indigenous Involvement in the Second World War 1

1 An Exception in the Equation? Donald Thomson and the NTSRU 35

2 Allies at War: De Facto Yolngu Soldiers 67

3 Black Skins, Black Work: Papuan and New Guinean Labor 99

4 Guerillas for the White Men: Formal Papuan and New Guinean Fighters 135

5 The Navajo Code Talkers: Warriors for the Settler Nation 169

6 When the War Was Over: Forgetting and (Re)membering the Code Talkers 195

Conclusion: The Soldier-Warrior in Modern War 221

Source Acknowledgments 233

Notes 235

Bibliography 271

Index 297

Editorial Reviews

"Defending Whose Country? is a welcome contribution to the existing body of literature and posits some interest questions in this understudied area of military history.""—Alexios Alecou, Army History

Army History - Alexios Alecou

"A worthy contribution to comparative military history."—Alison R. Bernstein, Journal of American History

Journal of American History - Alison R. Bernstein

"A fascinating study."—Jatinder Mann, Journal of New Zealand and Pacific Studies

Journal of New Zealand and Pacific Studies - Jatinder Mann