The digger legend - to which Aboriginal and Islander servicemen and women clearly belong - is one of the central myths of Australian society, yet to the late 1980s it was seen as the preserve of white Australians only.

    On Anzac Day - the national day of celebration of Australia's fighting men and women - many Australian indigenous people can march proudly: Reg Saunders, Oodgeroo Noonuccal, Leonard Warters and many others. In earlier years Aborigines seemed to have been denied their place in the front ranks of the Digger myth.