As the Civil War was drawing to a close the Northern Government was acutely aware that it would soon have millions of liberated slaves on its hands. Turmoil in the South and entrenched nationwide racism made it obvious that the difficulties for African Americans wouldn't end with the regime which had enslaved them. Agents representing the US Government made overtures to the colonial administrators of Queensland and New South Wales to take large numbers of African American families as settlers.

Colonial farmers and businessmen could have done with the labour as transportation of convicts from England had ended in some colonies and would cease continentally by 1868. The free labour they had provided had been an important factor in the development of many cities and sectors of the economy. Consideration was being made to import labourers from India and other regions of the British Empire to work in low paid agricultural sectors. However, the offer from the US Government was refused. Officials weren't unsympathetic to the plight of freed slaves but, Australia having been founded on the targeted deportation of oppressed ethnic and social groups, they felt very uncomfortable with the deportation of Negroes when the US was accepting increasing numbers of settlers from Europe.

Australian links to the Civil War ran deeper after the hostilities. Many American soldiers found it difficult to return to their lives as the world had changed, especially Southerners who felt their country had been destroyed and occupied. The Californian goldrush and westward expansion saw many go west to start new lives. Some went further afield, by accident and design, settling in Australia where there were great business opportunities. Their stories wouldn't be revealed until the aftermath of another horrific war.

MAJOR ROY PARKER
During World War II Major Roy Parker of the United States Air Force was stationed at Amberley Field, Queensland, Northern Australia. A member of the 22^nd Bombardment Group, he flew 56 combat missions between August 1943 & March 1945 against Japanese forces, piloting a B24. For his bravery he was awarded the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Clusters and two Bronze Stars. Like many American soldiers before and since, he fell under Australia's spell. He also fell for a local girl, Rosetta, whom he married in 1945 and took back to Ohio where he was a USAF instructor. When his period of enlistment expired in 1947, he decided to return to Australia with his wife and baby where he worked as a commercial pilot. He retired in 1977 having clocked up 26.000 hours with Ansett Airlines.

By chance, Roy discovered that during WWII American servicemen, killed in action or dying of wounds in Australian hospitals, were freighted to Sydney where they were buried in Rookwood Cemetery, the largest necropolis in the Southern Hemisphere. At war's end the graves were exhumed, the soldiers transported to the US for reburial and the disused American Cemetery was abandoned. While lobbying the US Veterans Administration to place a memorial on the site he stumbled across a time worn headstone denoting its occupant a veteran of the American Civil War. Intrigued, he approached the sexton who showed him several others. He did some checking and found there were many other American ex-servicemen buried in Australia, which spurred an interest that would remain with him the remainder of his life.

A representative of the American Legion in Sydney, he helped US veterans of WWII, Korean and Vietnam War living in Australia to access veteran pensions and healthcare. Fascinated by the number of former soldiers living in Australia he spent years researching the phenomena with a particular focus on the Civil War era. This had always captivated his imagination due to his great grandfather (Lt. Hoyt Palmer) serving in the Veteran Reserve Corps and Hancock's First Army Corps between 1863-65. Seeking the assistance of local historians he discovered many fascinating stories, including those of freed slaves who joined the merchant marine and jumped ship in Australian waters to start new lives. Going through the Defence Department he accessed Pensioner Rolls to ascertain how many vets had come here by the number of pensions payments made to them here. He also discovered a wealth of fascinating material including US Consular Dispatches.

Here follows the stories of just a few American Civil War veterans who lived and died in Australia, whom Roy Parker documented and restored to memory: