Lester Coyne discusses his uncle’s service, and his family and people’s relationship with war. Lester’s uncle Jack served in the Pacific during World War 2 including a period as a POW. Jack disliked Japanese people and things for the rest of his life and he would not talk about his service after the war. Lester’s father was in charge of Italian internees and POWs during the same war. Lester’s family did not receive soldier settlement, much to their disappointment, but did work on land clearing on others’ plots. Lester discusses at length themes such as the environment, the evil of war, the Stolen Generations, the concept of ‘blood’ in determining aboriginality, family discipline and African-American soldiers in Australia.

This interview took place on 31 August 2015 in Albany and was conducted by Dr Allison Cadzow and Dr Mary Anne Jebb as part of the Australian Research Council-funded research project Serving our Country: a history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the defence of Australia.

The interview recording above is made available to be viewed here by permission of the interviewee(s), Lester Coyne. The recording may not be copied, reproduced or communicated in whole or in part without the prior permission of the interviewee(s). Requests for permission for use of this material should be made to the Serving our Country research project: our contact details.

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