Diggers

Diggers is a term used for several related but distinct ideas. In the most common contemporary sense, a digger is a piece of construction equipment designed for digging and moving earth. Modern diggers, often hydraulic excavators or backhoes, are mounted on tracks or wheels and equipped with interchangeable attachments such as buckets, breakers, or augers. They are used for trenching, foundation work, demolition, and site remediation, enabling efficient earthmoving and reducing manual labor.

In military and social history, the term has been used as a nickname for groups or communities associated with digging or digging-related labor. Notably, Australian and New Zealand soldiers in World War I were called “diggers” by Allies and opponents alike, a term that has endured in popular memory and commemoration of the Anzac tradition.

Historical movements also known as the Diggers include two prominent and distinct strands. The English Diggers, or True Levellers, emerged during the English Civil War in the mid-17th century. Led by Gerrard Winstanley, they advocated common ownership of land and communal living on land viewed as common property, establishing small communes and calling for political reform. The movement was short-lived but influenced later socialist and utopian thought.

A separate 19th-century current appeared in California during the Gold Rush era. The California Diggers organized around communal living and critique of private property, operating free stores and communal kitchens as experiments in sharing goods and land. This movement waned under legal and social pressures but remained a notable example of utopian experimentation in American history.

In informal usage, “digger” can also refer to archaeologists or workers who dig as part of their job, though this is less formal than the other senses.