Thomas William (Bill) Ah Chow was a Chinese-Australian soldier, farmer, fire lookout and legendary bushman of East Gippsland in Victoria.
Bill's father, Thomas Ah Chow, was born in Hong Kong in 1834, educated in England, worked initially as a sea-cook and then as a ship's steward. He first arrived in New South Wales in 1855 aged 21 years where his spent his first two years. He later came to Victoria to ply the busy coastal route between Melbourne and Port Albert on steamers transporting miners and their equipment to Gippsland's goldfields. However, the construction of the Sale Canal between 1883 and 1890, which included the Swing Bridge at Longford, gave closer access to the Port of Sale for boats coming via the Gippsland Lakes. This combined with the opening of the Gippsland railway line in 1877 spelled the ultimate demise of the coastal shipping to Port Albert.
Thomas Ah Chow married Agnes Elizabeth Mason on 30 May 1872 and the newlyweds lived in South Melbourne or Emerald Hill as it was known then. The couple eventually settled at Mossiface near Bruthen in about 1880 to become one of the early farming families of the region. Thomas William (Bill) Ah Chow was born at Bruthen on 11 September 1892 as the youngest of 13 children to Thomas and Agnes.
Many Chinese came to the Victorian gold rush in the 1850s to seek their fortune at the Omeo and Cassilis diggings. Many of the immigrants later settled and integrated into their local communities working as farm labourers, tending market gardens, making furniture, running grocery stores and cafes or practising Chinese medicine. However, the large and sudden influx of Asian immigrants to the gold fields gave rise to widespread fears and prejudice about Chinese immigration to Australia. By the time of Federation in 1901, all Australian colonies had enacted legislation restricting Chinese immigration.
These restrictions were part of the White Australia Policy, which sought to ensure that the population remained predominantly British subjects or at least of European origin. The new Federal Parliament passed the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 which allowed the Government to deny entry to people failing an onerous dictation test in any European language chosen by the immigration officer. These policies were progressively dismantled between 1949 and 1973.
Chinese ANZAC
When World War I was declared in 1914 Australia issued a call to arms. At the time, the population was approximately 4.9 million and around 420,000 Australians enlisted for service, representing nearly 40% of the male population aged between 18 and 44.
However, under the White Australian Policy together with the Defence Act of 1909, those "not substantially of European origin or descent" were excluded from serving in the naval and military forces. Moreover, minimum physical requirements such as height and chest circumference made it difficult for young Chinese men of smaller stature to enlist. Bill Ah Chow attempted to enlist at least twice in the army, first at his home town of Bruthen on 6 May 1915, but was rejected because of his obvious Chinese appearance. Undeterred, he reapplied and was accepted two years later on 19 June 1917 at the nearby City of Sale, where he wrote "No" on his attestation paper to the question "Have you ever been declared unfit for service in His Majesty's service?" It is thought that the recruitment officer must have questioned his answer because it was crossed out and overwritten with a note "yes, not of sufficiently European appearance". However, by this time, the war in France was dragging on and restrictions were being relaxed and Thomas William Ah Chow was accepted.
Bill was assigned to the 25th reinforcements of the 5th Battalion AIF and sailed to France on board the HMAT A-32 Themistocles on 4 August 1917. While serving on the Western Front in France, Bill was not only gassed but also wounded three times, once seriously of a gunshot wound to the right shoulder on 31 July 1918. Bill was repatriated to No 1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital which was set in the grounds of the stately Harefield Park near London and saw no further active service. He sailed home from England to Australia on board the HMAT A-38 Ulysses on 18 January 1919. The community welcomed him with a civic reception at Mossiface on 26 March where he was presented with a small gold medallion. He was later medically discharged from the Army on 19 June 1919.
Like many men of his generation, Bill Ah Chow rarely spoke of his wartime experiences.