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Australian War Memorial Logo
Search
  • Online Shop Use this login for Shop items, and image, film, sound reproductions
    Cart  |  Log In
  • Collection Open Information Close Information
    • Official Histories & Unit Diaries
    • Understanding the Collection
    • Research at the Memorial
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    • National Collection Loans
    • Projects
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    • Visitor Information
    • Exhibitions
    • Events
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    • Memorial Development Project
    • Research Centre
  • Commemorate Open Information Close Information
    • Last Post Ceremony
    • Honour Rolls
    • Anzac Day
    • Remembrance Day
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  4. Australia under attack 1942 1943
  5. Australia under attack: Mobilising the nation
  6. Australia under attack: The Nackeroos

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Australia under attack: The Nackeroos

  • Introduction
  • Under attack
  • Mobilisation
  • The End in sight

 

The North Australia Observation Unit (NAOU), nicknamed the “Nackeroos” or “Curtin’s Cowboys”, was created in mid-March 1942, a week after Broome was strafed. The unit’s commander, Major William Stanner, had been an anthropologist before the war and knew the north well.

The unit was barely 550 strong, and with their headquarters in Katherine, in the Northern Territory, they were given the task of patrolling northern Australia to look for signs of enemy activity. They operated in small groups, and most of their patrols were on horseback. The men made use of the knowledge of local Aboriginals and maintained coastwatching outposts.

As the threat of invasion passed, the unit was reduced in strength and disbanded in March 1945.

Collection Item C1067507

Accession Number: P04393.001

Major William Stanner

Collection Item C18274

Accession Number: 058457

A NAOU patrol

Mobilisation

  • Mobilising the nation
  • Air Raid Precautions
    • Identification labels
    • The Anderson air raid shelter
    • “When the air raid siren sounds …”
  • Scanning the skies
  • The man who killed Santa Claus
    • Austerity
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  • The Australian Military Forces
    • Lines of communication
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    • Australia’s home guard
    • The Nackeroos
    • The RAAF at war
    • The Z men

Last updated: 11 December 2020

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