95bFM The untold stories of Muslim ANZACs
20 April, 2023
Interview by Simon Wraight, adapted by Rawan Saadi
Photo: Canva.
Anzac Day, which takes place on 25 April, marks the day that New Zealand and Australian troops landed in the Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915 and commemorates those that sacrificed their lives in World War I.
The new short film "The Crescent Under the Southern Cross” explores the lesser known stories of immigrant Muslims who fought with ANZAC troops.
The film, produced by Professor Ihsan Yilmaz, Dr James Barry, and Dr Simon Wilmot from Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia, focuses on the journeys of four Muslim men from Albania and Indonesia who came to Australia before World War II.
Director Simon Wilmot told Simon Wraight on 95bFM’s The Wire that the film is "a story of migration”.
Many young Albanian Muslim men moved to rural parts of Victoria in the early 1900s as part of a cultural program called Kurbet, where they would live abroad for a short period, then go home to settle down and share their knowledge and wealth.
Despite intending to return to their home countries, conflict between Albania and Italy forced them to stay in Australia and eventually join the army.
“They saw this as a pathway to naturalisation, which is what citizenship was at the time, and joined the armed forces.”
Another group of men that the film focuses on are pearl divers and labourers that came from the Indonesian Islands and based themselves in Broome, Darwin, and Thursday Island to earn money before returning to Indonesia.
Unfortunately, after the attack on Pearl Harbour, the Australian government feared being attacked by the Japanese military. Within a month, the Pearl industry was shut down, and there was conflict across Asia, including Indonesia.
Much like the Albanian men, the Indonesian Muslim migrants were then also unable to return home and resorted to joining the military.
“All of these four men we followed, like so many of the Muslims who ended up in the Australian defence force, were migrants who had not intended to stay," said Willmot.
Willmot said these men ended up being a valuable addition to the troops when the British colonial forces were trying to reclaim the Indonesian islands and prevent them from being taken over by the Japanese military.
The forces realised that the pearl divers who had joined the armed forces would be useful in helping to better infiltrate the local communities.
“This is not just because they spoke the local language and looked local, but these men were adventurers, they were highly motivated incredible people who were prepared to leave their islands and travel to Australia”.
“These were smart, clever men, and they were very well prepared to go behind the enemy line to gather intelligence and prepare locals to fight against the Japanese."
The short film’s aim is to expose stories like these and bring to light the diversity of the ANZAC troops.
