Aboriginal WWI digger to be brought home

The remains of an Indigenous soldier will be laid to rest near his home after almost a century in an unmarked grave. Warning this article contains the name and image of a deceased person.

The Australian War Memorial in Canberra on December 13, 2008. Source: AAP

An Aboriginal WWI soldier whose remains have lain in an unmarked grave in Adelaide for nearly a century will be reburied near his home with full military honours.

Twenty-five-year-old digger Miller Mack died in 1919 from an illness contracted during service and was buried in an unmarked grave at the West Terrace Cemetery.

The state government says it has granted $2500 to the Aboriginal Veterans of SA to have the soldier's remains reinterred at his home in the Raukkan community, near the Murray Mouth, where a service will be held to honour him.

Private Miller Mack was a labourer from Port McLeay, South Australia. While serving in France, Private Mack became ill and was sent back to Australia. Source: Australian War Memorial

Of the 416,809 Australian soldiers who enlisted to serve in WW1, more than 1000 are believed to be Indigenous.

The exact number of Indigenous Australians who served is not known as many enlistees lied about their personal details.

The photographs featured in this gallery have been gleaned from the Australian War Memorial's Indigenous Service page and show soldiers who were enlisted in WW1.

There are hundreds of names on the War Memorial's list of Indigenous soldiers, but most are without photos. We have excluded group photos, images with copyright restrictions and pictures where the identity of an individual was not clear.

At least one of the men in this gallery, Private Richard Martin, served on the Gallipoli Peninsula in the battle that has helped shape Australia's identity.

With AAP