Digger (soldier)

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Digger is New Zealand and Australian military slang term for soldiers from New Zealand and Australia. It originated during World War I.

There are numerous theories about the origin of the term. Before the war, the term "digger" had been widely used in Australasia to mean a miner, or a Kauri gum-digger in New Zealand. On 25 April 1915, General Sir Ian Hamilton sent a message to the commander of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), General William Birdwood, following the landing at Gallipoli. It contained the postscript: "P.S.—You have got through the difficult business, now you have only to dig, dig, dig, until you are safe." However, there is no hard evidence to support the theory that Hamilton's message is the reason why digger was applied to ANZAC troops in general. W. H. Downing, in Digger Dialects (1919), a glossary of words and phrases used by Australian personnel during the war, says that Digger was first used to mean a New Zealand or Australian soldier in 1916. It appears to have become popular among New Zealand troops, before being adopted by Australians. The word was not in wide use amongst soldiers until 1917. One other theory is the fact that ANZAC troops were especially good at digging tunnels between their own trenches and the enemies, and were regarded by both sides as diggers, one was derogatory and the other was in jest. Because the job of digging between the trenches was very hard, especially when both sides diggers met in the tunnels, ANZACS believe that it is a form of complement to be referred to diggers, because to be of any merit you had to be very good at this hard job, and to be regarded as diggers was due to there skill at their job.

While New Zealanders would call each other "Digger", all other nationalities, including Australians, tended to call them "Kiwis". The equivalent slang for a British soldier was "Tommy" from Tommy Atkins. However, while the Anzacs would happily refer to themselves as "Diggers", British soldiers generally resented being called "Tommy".

Throughout Australia when one refers to "digger", one is referring to the Australian Army.

Between 1998 and 2003, the term was used in the name of a team in the Victorian Football League, the Bendigo Diggers. This was partly in reference to Bendigo's history as a centre of the gold-mining industry. The team changed its nickname to "Bombers" when it became a feeder club for Essendon. In 2001, Athletics Australia suggested that it would use "Diggers" as the nickname of the Australian athletics team. The proposal was withdrawn after a public outcry and protest from the RSL (Returned and Services League of Australia).

John Campbell Ross (born March 11, 1899) is the last surviving Digger from World War I.