The term “Rats of Tobruk” was an ironic reference the troops gave themselves after the Nazis referred to the broader Allied forces as being like rats.
Thanks to a brief flirtation with Hollywood,he was arguably the most recognised of all Tobruk’s rats – even if no one knew his name.
Driscoll’s grandson Simon Hurley was trawling through a Melbourne vintage market 25 years ago when he stumbled upon an old war movie poster promotingThe Fighting Rats of Tobruk featuring his grandfather.
“He knew it was our grandfather straight away,grandfather’s sister had kept clippings and we knew about the movie poster,” Driscoll’s granddaughter Angelina Hurley said.
“Our grandfather died before I was born,and from what our late father told us,he didn’t really like talking about the war ... the experience affected him very deeply.”
Archibald Driscoll,centre,was one of the “Black Rats” of Tobruk who returned to a deeply segregated Australia.
There are no records revealing how an Aboriginal man became the poster boy for the 1944 film,which starred Chips Rafferty and was an edited version of an Australian production made for the American and British markets.
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Research by the Australian War Memorial has confirmed Driscoll was one of at least 59 “Black Rats” of Tobruk,a figure expected to grow as more research is undertaken. Five years ago,there were only 18 confirmed “Black Rats”.
Driscoll was an Aboriginal man of the Mununjali nation from around the Beaudesert and Mt Tamborine area of South-East Queensland.
Born on December 27,1909,in Mt Tamborine,he was the son of a saw-miller and signed up on October 20,1939,in South Brisbane. Driscoll was posted to the 9th Australian Division during his service,arriving in Tobruk in April 1941.
As well as his extensive service record,Driscoll’s unique claim to fame is his role as a poster boy for the Charles Chauvel-directed film,which got a lukewarm reception from international critics.
Chauvel,who shot the battle scenes on Cronulla’s sand dunes and in sets in Camden,toldThe Sydney Morning Herald in 1943 he hoped the movie would immortalise “the courage of the average Australian soldier”.
Hero shot:One of Tobruk’s “Black Rats”,Archibald Driscoll’s good looks made him a Hollywood poster boy.Credit:Australian War Memorial
Driscoll doesn’t appear in the film,but he took part in battle re-enactments while serving in El Alamein as part of an official campaign to record the events of Tobruk. His image was later selected for the film’s posters which were used across the US and Britain.
Bell has devoted nearly a decade to discovering First Nations war stories such as Driscoll’s,researching their history through a combination of yarns,photos,artefacts and archival records.
“There is no longer the sort of stigma that stopped people declaring their Aboriginality in previous generations,” Bell said. “At that time,they were not recognised as Australian citizens,they were not counted in the census,and they could not vote.”
A service photo of Frederick Fletcher Fenn,one of the Black Rats of Tobruk whose heroic acts went unrecognised for generations.Credit:Australian War Memorial
A similar predicament emerges in another “Black Rat” story unearthed by the war memorial. Frederick (Fred) Fletcher Fenn was born in 1916 at a cattle station north of Oodnadatta,South Australia.
His father,a white man,was the manager of the station and his mother was an Aboriginal woman. While he knew his father,who he saw on occasions,he did not know his mother. Fenn was placed in an orphanage at five,left to work as a farm hand at 13 and enlisted at 23.
He served as a driver at Tobruk,risking his life to save two of his mates seriously wounded by a shell. One had a leg blown off and was in danger of bleeding to death.
Under heavy attack,Fenn ran almost 200 metres to a truck,drove it back and picked up the wounded men,only to run into a barbed-wire entanglement. Still under heavy shelling,he single-handedly cleared the truck and finally made it to safety and medical help.
Years later he described the incident as “one of the most terrifying experiences in my whole life”. Fenn was not given any formal recognition for his heroic act.
During an unearthed interview in 1982 Fenn revealed the challenges he faced returning to civilian life,such as being banned from getting a beer in a pub.
“As one with Aboriginal blood,I found some aspects of our society rather strange,” Fenn revealed.
“Before,during and after the war it was law that I was unable to enter a hotel and drink alcohol – unless I had a special certificate to say I was a person in the opinion of three learned gentlemen able to conduct myself in a proper manner.
“Even wearing an ex-service badge didn’t do anything towards helping my embarrassment when refused to be served,or asked to produce the certificate. This is ended now,thank goodness.”