Look what I just got via email......

[Freedom]

Why were Aussies called Diggers?

I loved reading that. My Mum was British, so I can certainly relate to that bit. And I've been on travel tours with Aussies, met a dozen or so, they all live up to that discussion!

"Now this is an easy and unfair thing to say, but it's pretty clear the Americans thought serving in Australia a lot more fun than serving in Britain" Having heard Mum and her family speak of the Blitz and rationing, I can well believe this; I think ANYWHERE would have been more fun than Britain during WWII!

"not so long ago in a Sydney bar, an American soldier turned to an Australian next to him and said: 'Well, Aussie, you can go home now. We've come over to save you.' The Aussie cracked back: 'Have you? I thought you were a refugee from Pearl Harbour'."

[wombat2u2004]

Why were Aussies called Diggers?

Mateship is a term traditionally used among men, and it is a term frequently used to describe the relationship between men during times of challenge. The popular notion of mateship came to the fore during the First World War.

During this period the word 'mate' became interchangeable with the word 'digger', which had its roots in the gold digging fields of the 1850s.

The stories and experiences of goldfield workers have become part of Australian folklore. Gold diggers were portrayed in stories and songs as romantic heroes, larrikins and villains who embraced the principles of democracy. Henry Lawson wrote in Shearers:

They tramp in mateship side by side -
The Protestant and Roman
They call no biped lord or sir
And touch their hat to no man!

The slang term 'digger' re-surfaced during the First World War when Australian and New Zealand soldiers, ANZACs, ascribed it to themselves and their mates as a term of affection, arguably due to the trench-digging aspect of the war.

'Digger' and 'dig' were used by soldiers as friendly terms of address equivalent to 'cobber' and 'mate' ... The term has tended to be defined in high-value laden ways ... 'a man for whom freedom, comradeship, a wide tolerance, and a strong sense of the innate worth of man, count for more than all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory in them.'
A G Butler, The Digger: A Study in Democracy, 1945 in The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History, p 213

[Freedom]

Thanks, Wom!

[kitten645]

PT is educational as well! Not just in animal husbandry but international relations! Thanks Wom!