Desert Wogs and Dirty Dagoes: The Role of World War II Australian Soldiers in Shaping Racial Language in Australia

In post–World War II Australia, wog came to be a slur used against predominantly Southern European migrants, such as Italians and Greeks. However, prior to the war, it was used more benignly to refer to small creatures and minor illnesses, and as a diminutive for the popular golliwog dolls. This article investigates how Australian soldiers’ encounters with Others in the Middle Eastern front—both local Arabs and Italian enemies—were shaped by the racial ideologies they brought with them and shaped those with which they returned to Australia. It identifies these experiences in World War II as crucial to changing the meaning of wog in postwar Australia.