page_title: Caleb Shang
section_title: Second World War
hierarchical_section_title: Caleb Shang / Second World War
caption_attribution_description: English: Caleb Shang DCM &amp; Bar, MM, Anna Shang, Delta Shang. ANZAC Day 1943, Cairns. This was the only ANZAC Day parade that Caleb Shang ever marched in.
context_page_description: Caleb James Shang, DCM & Bar, MM was the most highly decorated Chinese Australian soldier who served in the First World War. He was decorated with the Distinguished Conduct Medal twice and received the Military Medal. He served with distinction on the Western Front, primarily as a scout and sniper, until his wounds rendered him unfit for further duties. After returning to Australia, Shang married in Victoria and moved to Queensland, where he and his wife raised their three children. During the Second World War, he served on home defence duties in northern Queensland.
context_section_description: During the Second World War, Shang enlisted in the 17th Battalion, Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) in Cairns on 21 April 1942, aged 57. The VDC was a part time volunteer force modelled on the British Home Guard, consisting of World War I veterans, men in reserved occupations and men aged 16–18, too young to enlist in the armed forces. The role of the VDC was to conduct guerilla warfare, collect intelligence and provide static defence in the event of a Japanese invasion. As the threat of an invasion of Australia diminished, Shang was placed on reserve on 18 December 1944. He was discharged on 21 October 1945, following the disbandment of the Corps.
  In the 1940s, few were aware of Shang's distinguished AIF war record and continuing VDC service. Consequently, he suffered the occasional racial slur as a result of the heightened anti-Asian sentiment during the war. Shang marched in the ANZAC Day parade, complete with decorations, in April 1943. Despite many years of active membership with the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League, this was the only ANZAC Day parade that he ever marched in. Shang's daughter, Delta Shang, stated that her normally modest father participated in the march largely as a response to the racism felt during World War II.
caption: Caleb, Anna, and Delta Shang on Anzac Day in Cairns, 1943[40]
exif: {"Image Make": "RICOH", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "200", "Image YResolution": "200", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "ACD Systems Digital Imaging", "Image DateTime": "2011:05:20 23:26:25", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "192", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF SubSecTime": "434", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "497", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "449", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "258"}