Visit main University website

USYD logo

Beyond 1914: The University of Sydney and the Great War

Find people and places
How do I use this?

JACOBS, Alfred Nailer

Furthermore

He helped to found the Narrogin Native Welfare Committee (later Association) in 1946 and served as its honorary secretary throughout the 1950s. The N.N.W.C. lobbied for better living conditions, higher educational opportunities and full citizenship rights for Aborigines. At the administrative level, Jacobs was often at odds with the Native Affairs Department and campaigned for the Federal government to take charge of Aboriginal affairs. The N.N.W.C.'s attempts to intervene in cases of police brutality against Aborigines also caused friction with local officials. Suffering from tuberculosis, Jacobs spent periods in Hollywood Repatriation Hospital, Perth, in 1947, 1950, 1952 and 1955. At the first federal conference of the Aboriginal Advancement League, held in 1958, he presented the N.N.W.A.'s demands for radical reforms, including land, fishing and mining rights.[ADB entry]

Book of Remembrance entry

Not listed on Roll of Active Service. Enlisted in the AIF on 5 January 1916. Served on the Western Front from September 1917 with 15th Field Ambulance. At Bellicourt ,France on 29-30 September 1918 he evacuated wounded for 36 hours continuously while under heavy fire and was awarded the Military Medal. Discharge on 4 September 1919. [ADB entry]

TIMELINE

Gender
Male