The Snake Bay Patrol was an auxiliary reconnaissance unit made up of

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples o ...

residents of Melville Island in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Au ...

that was raised by the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. After the first bombing raid on Darwin in 1942, special units consisting of Indigenous Australians were formed, one of which was the Snake Bay Patrol. The Snake Bay Patrol unit was established by

Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RANVR) was a reserve force of the Royal Australian Navy. Formation In late 1920, the Navy Board proposed the creation of an Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve scheme, with approaches made to ya ...

officer Lieutenant J.W.B. Gribble during the Pacific War to detect any Japanese forces which landed on the island, with local Indigenous Australians being informally recruited and never formally enlisted into the military. The Patrol's 35 members served on a full-time basis, received firearms training, were issued naval uniforms and held naval ranks conferred by Gribble, but were not paid. Similar units were raised on Bathurst Island, the

Cox Peninsula __NOTOC__ The Wagait Shire is a local government area in the Northern Territory of Australia. The council was established as the Cox Peninsula Community Government Council on 28 April 1995 and renamed with effect from 1 July 2008. The shire is ...

and

Groote Eylandt Groote Eylandt ( Anindilyakwa: ''Ayangkidarrba'' meaning "island" ) is the largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria and the fourth largest island in Australia. It was named by the explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 and is Dutch for "Large Island" i ...

. During the war the Snake Bay Patrol conducted patrols along the shore of Melville Island, rescued downed Allied airmen and determined the location of

naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ve ...

s. Two members of the Patrol are also believed to have formed part of reconnaissance parties landed on

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western part. The Indonesian part, al ...

from Allied submarines. The former members of the Snake Island Patrol only became eligible for service medals and payments in recognition of their service in 1962. In December 1991 the few surviving members of the Patrol and the other auxiliary Indigenous units received compensation for not having been paid during the war, as well as the Defence Medal and

War Medal A war medal is a military decoration awarded in time of war, as opposed to a service medal. It may refer to, for example: *War Medal (Norway) *Campaign medal *Global War on Terrorism Service Medal *British War Medal, British Empire medal for servic ...

; these were also provided to the next of kin of the members who had died by that time. The next year the surviving men became eligible for veteran's benefits under the ''Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986''.

References

{{reflist History of Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory Military units and formations of Australia in World War II Military units and formations of the Royal Australian Navy Indigenous Australians in the military 1940s in the Northern Territory

See also

References