World War I Islanders exhibition

'The Islanders' tells the story of the 28 Aboriginal men from the Furneaux Islands in Bass Strait who enlisted to fight in the Great War. The Islanders became one of the first and largest Aboriginal groups to enlist and fight for the Empire. This was despite the fact that entry to the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) at the beginning of the war was restricted to people of 'substantially European origin and appearance'. 28 Aboriginal men signed up from Cape Barren and Flinders Islands during World War I – eight died serving overseas. The exhibition features replicas of the memorial plaques or 'dead man's pennies' sent to the families of two of the soldiers who went to war but did not come home; Marcus Brown and John Fisher.