Wally Lovett holds a unique place in Collingwood history as our first known Indigenous player. The feisty, fearless rover won over Magpie fans in his debut season in 1982, quickly becoming a cult favourite, before he became unintended collateral damage in the recruiting wars with Richmond in 1983.

But if Wally is still fondly remembered at Collingwood, then his family holds an even more exalted place in Australia’s military history, with his grandfather, great uncles and other family members all part of what is arguably the most extraordinary story of service this country has ever seen.

It all began back during the First World War, when Frederick Lovett – Wally’s grandfather – and four of his brothers, decided they wanted to fight for their country. They were part of a group of Indigenous men from Lake Condah, about 20km from Heywood in western Victoria, who all decided they wanted to do their bit and help out their country.

This was no small thing. Indigenous Australians weren’t counted in the country’s population then, they weren’t allowed to vote and they were not even allowed to be soldiers (legislation actually prevented people from enlisting if they were 'not substantially of European origin or descent'). So, bizarrely, the Lovetts and their comrades from Lake Condah had to fight for the right to fight. They needed special permission, they needed authorities to overlook the rules, and they needed to be absolutely determined to go.

But that wasn’t going to stop Frederick or his brothers – Alfred, Leonard (better known as Charlie), Edward and Herbert. They were descended from a long line of warriors; the famed 'Fighting Gunditjmara' people who were renowned for never taking a backward step.

The boys’ father, James, was originally from South Australia. Their mother, Hannah, was a member of the Kerrup-Jmara clan of the Gunditjmara nation in Western Victoria. As a child, Hannah had been one of the earliest Aboriginal people at Lake Condah Mission after it was established in the 1860s. Hannah went on to have 13 children, including the five boys who would enlist to fight in WWI.

It was by no means easy. And sometimes the process took far longer than it should have, because all sorts of hurdles could be put in their way. But all five Lovett brothers eventually got to serve (albeit not alongside each other), and did so with distinction.

Frederick was eventually accepted on 13 May 1917. He was a Private in the 29th Reinforcements of the 4th Light Horse Regiment and fought in Palestine. He was part of the famous cavalry charge of the Australian Light Horse Brigade that broke through Turkish defences to capture the town of Beersheba. He was discharged on 15 June 1919 and awarded two service medals.

Fortunately, all five brothers returned safely. But they quickly learned that their heroics on the battlefields of France and beyond weren’t going to win them any favours back home in peacetime. As Wally wryly puts it these days: “They were hailed as heroes when they landed in Sydney, but the closer to home they got the blacker they got. Once they got back to the home area it was back to being treated as second class citizens.”

Perhaps the most galling example of this was their inability to benefit from the Soldier Settlement Scheme, which aimed to provide returning soldiers with work and land. Large rural estates were subdivided into smaller farming blocks and leased back to returned service-people at preferential rates.

But Indigenous soldiers (it’s believed there were over 1000) were almost entirely denied access to this scheme. None of the Lovett brothers were granted access, and to rub salt into the wounds much of the Lake Condah Mission site where they had previously lived was divided up and given to non-Indigenous soldiers.

“That is one of the biggest sad points for us,” says Wally. “This was the place where they were born and [the government] was giving the land to other soldiers but not to them – yet they were born there! It’s just unfair.”

You might think that the injustice of that response would have made the Lovett brothers regret their determination to fight for their country. Far from it. After Lake Condah closed, the various members of the Lovett family made their living in the surrounding district.

Then, when the Second World War rolled around, four of them enlisted and served again, although they served mostly within Australia due to their age. Another brother, Samuel, who had been too young for the First World War, joined them and served overseas.

Frederick re-enlisted in March 1942. He was a Corporal and served in the Australian Army Catering Corps as a cook (he had lost an eye when gored by a bull while farming so couldn’t return to the battlefields). He was discharged from the army in July 1947 at the age of 60.

One of his brothers, Charlie, was also near 60 when his second stint ended, and had the unusual pleasure of seeing his daughter serve in the same conflict (with the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force).

By now the family’s commitment to fighting for their country had been well established – and it continued. In all, 21 men and women of the Lovett family have served Australia in times of war, including conflicts in Japan, Vietnam, Korea and Afghanistan. Frederick's grandson, Sergeant Ricky Morris, served in the army with the International Force for East Timor and in Afghanistan.

The Lovetts’ story is world famous within military circles: a renowned historian at the Imperial War Museum in London, Nigel Steel, once said that he knew of no other record of military service by a single family that matched that of the Lovetts. The building that houses the department of Veterans Affairs in Canberra is called Lovett Tower in their honour, and they were inducted into Victoria’s Aboriginal Honour Roll back in 2013.

Their story is also famous around Heywood. That township’s most recognisable feature, a huge water tower, has been decorated with a wonderful mural depicting images of the four Lovett brothers who served in both Wars, plus Captain Reginald Saunders, a Purnim man who was Australia’s first known Indigenous officer.

Wally Lovett says he couldn’t be prouder of what his grandfather, great uncles and other family members have done. “I’m very proud of my whole family, and what they’ve done.

“I’ve always been proud of being Collingwood’s first Indigenous player, and being an AFL footballer. But my football side of things is just a bit of sand on the beach compared to what these blokes did. They put their hands up at a time when nobody else wanted them, and they put their life on the line.

“Because of that, Anzac Day means a lot to us. Everyone in our mob is absolutely stoked to have that history behind us. We’re all very proud. Not everyone can skite about their family like that and we certainly bring it up all the time. It’s a big thing with us.”