08-26-2007, 01:29 AM
Stories of love and war
by Greg Welsh
Between 1943 and 1950, the largest number of Australians to ever permanently leave this country farewelled all they had known and set off on a voyage half way around the world, to an uncertain future in the United States. They were the "war brides", and Modern History student Robyn Arrowsmith is recording their remarkable stories.
Itââ¬â¢s 1942 and Australia is gripped by a fear of invasion by the "Yellow Peril" ââ¬â Japanese armed forces ââ¬â an alarm that is somewhat allayed when General MacArthur and thousands of US servicemen arrive in Melbourne aboard their troop ships for an extended stay.
Over the next three years, however, Australian sentiment towards the US military in Melbourne and elsewhere becomes mixed, and occasionally hostile. By the Australian women who are in constant contact with them, the servicemen are often seen as charming and exotic. But by some other sections of Australian society they are resented as "overpaid, oversexed and over here".
Robyn Arrowsmith, a Masters student in Modern History at Macquarie University, believes it was inevitable that many Australian/US marriages took place during the war, despite this public opposition.
"A lot of our men were overseas, so it was a natural progression," she says. "Our women ââ¬â who worked in hospitality areas and who also worked very hard at entertaining the troops at dances held by the Red Cross, for instance ââ¬â met these men who seemed to pursue them."
In the years immediately following the end of the war, some 12,000 and possibly more, Australian war brides boarded reconditioned US troop ships and set sail to be reunited with their husbands and fiances. What happened next was largely a mystery, at least until now.
For the past three years, Arrowsmith has been undertaking the first comprehensive documentation of the Australian war bridesââ¬â¢ experiences. The research came about as a result of a much larger project on Australian women in the US by Professor Jill Roe, who first became interested in the largely unresearched topic while serving as Visiting Professor of Australian Studies at Harvard University in the mid 1990s.
Arrowsmith has since set up a database of 200 Australian war brides living in the US; developed and administered questionnaires relating to every aspect of their lives, from their parentsââ¬â¢ thoughts on their wartime marriages to their educational and employment opportunities in the US; and performed 50 extensive face-to-face interviews during trips to the US in 1999 and 2001.
Each of these trips coincided with war bridesââ¬â¢ reunions in Nevada and Colorado, and Arrowsmith also caught up with informal gatherings of war brides, including one group of 16 women who have been meeting together each month for many years.
The first thing that struck her about the women she interviewed was their amazing spirit in the face of enormous adversity, directly opposing the popular perception that the marriages were often the result of one night stands or brief infatuations.
"Some of them actually corresponded for years before they married, some were engaged and stuck here in Australia for two or three years before they could get to America due to all the red tape during war time," Arrowsmith explains. "Neither the US nor Australian governments were very supportive, and in practice the war brides faced many difficulties and delays in getting to America."
As well as political and public opposition, some women experienced resistance from their families or their husbandsââ¬â¢ families, or even from the commanding officer of their partnerââ¬â¢s unit ââ¬â who had to give permission for the marriage in the first place. Others faced a logistical nightmare, which may have included a train ride across the Nullabor from Perth to Sydney or Brisbane with a small baby in tow, followed by a long-term wait in a boarding house for a ship and a two-week-long voyage to the US.
"They didnââ¬â¢t all have happy experiences, of course, and some of them went from quite different origins, contrasting very much with where they ended up," Arrowsmith adds. "Some of them went to arid deserts and others to cold, rugged mountain areas and others to ethnic enclaves.
"I think something that runs through the character of all these women is they seemed to be imbued with the indomitable Australian pioneering spirit ââ¬â they were prepared to make the best of whatever happened."
Another common trait which immediately struck Arrowsmith during the interviews was the war bridesââ¬â¢ strong links to Australia.
"Most of them see themselves as Australians, which is remarkable after 50 years," she says. "Some of them even say that with the strongest American accent. They all have very strong links: theyââ¬â¢ve kept in touch with family and friends; they seem to be very fond of keeping up with Australian films and books; and are interested in whatever Australian news they do get.
"Also, most of those I visited in their homes had Australiana "corners" with boomerangs on the wall and koala tea cosies. The group of 16 women each brought a plate to their luncheon, including lamingtons and all sorts of old-fashioned Australian fare such as devon rolled around mashed potato with a toothpick through it. They sang around the table ââ¬ËI love Aeroplane Jellyââ¬â¢ and other old Australian songs and had the time of their lives."
This strong Australian identity is all the more remarkable given that many of the war brides felt compelled to give up their Australian citizenship in order to take up US citizenship."Many o them gave up their Australian citizenship unwillingly and grudgingly, certainly reluctantly, to become US citizens, which they felt they wanted to do because their families were growing up there, they wanted to vote and so forth," Arrowsmith says.
"There has been legislation passed in April allowing dual citizenship to now be granted, but itââ¬â¢s not retrospective so it probably wonââ¬â¢t help the war brides. Quite a few of them would just give anything to have dual citizenship."
Arrowsmithââ¬â¢s research may eventually turn into a PhD study, and she and Roe would like to extend the project to ensure it is truly representative of the group. But Arrowsmithââ¬â¢s immediate focus is on a book sheââ¬â¢s compiling of some of the war bridesââ¬â¢ stories.
"These women were all in their later years and very anxious for some chronicling of their experiences as a record for future generations," she says. "They were so generous to me, telling me some quite poignant, moving stories. What I would like to do is give them something in return for their generosity, so I thought I would take time out to write the book and transcribe the tapes."
Perhaps this book and the research project, once it is completed, will finally set at rest the stereotypes still surrounding this largely ignored group of Australian women.
"They seem to me to be wonderfully self reliant people," Roe says. "I was quite proud of some of them, so bold. I guess they really didnââ¬â¢t have that much of an idea what they were doing, but they did it."
http://www.pr.mq.edu.au/macnews/ShowItem.asp?ItemID=143
Dual Citizenship for Australian War Brides and Their Children
March 2007 - In case you have not heard yet, major new Australian citizenship legislation has just been passed by Australia's federal parliament in Canberra.
This will give thousands of Australian-born war brides and their children in the US new rights to apply for Australian citizenship from the implementation date of 1 July 2007. Unfortunately, many have no idea and may miss out on the benefits of Australian citizenship (and dual citizenship) simply because they are oblivious. We are trying to reach as many as possible.
http://www.geocities.com/us_warbrides/AmWarBrides/whatsnew.html
by Greg Welsh
Between 1943 and 1950, the largest number of Australians to ever permanently leave this country farewelled all they had known and set off on a voyage half way around the world, to an uncertain future in the United States. They were the "war brides", and Modern History student Robyn Arrowsmith is recording their remarkable stories.
Itââ¬â¢s 1942 and Australia is gripped by a fear of invasion by the "Yellow Peril" ââ¬â Japanese armed forces ââ¬â an alarm that is somewhat allayed when General MacArthur and thousands of US servicemen arrive in Melbourne aboard their troop ships for an extended stay.
Over the next three years, however, Australian sentiment towards the US military in Melbourne and elsewhere becomes mixed, and occasionally hostile. By the Australian women who are in constant contact with them, the servicemen are often seen as charming and exotic. But by some other sections of Australian society they are resented as "overpaid, oversexed and over here".
Robyn Arrowsmith, a Masters student in Modern History at Macquarie University, believes it was inevitable that many Australian/US marriages took place during the war, despite this public opposition.
"A lot of our men were overseas, so it was a natural progression," she says. "Our women ââ¬â who worked in hospitality areas and who also worked very hard at entertaining the troops at dances held by the Red Cross, for instance ââ¬â met these men who seemed to pursue them."
In the years immediately following the end of the war, some 12,000 and possibly more, Australian war brides boarded reconditioned US troop ships and set sail to be reunited with their husbands and fiances. What happened next was largely a mystery, at least until now.
For the past three years, Arrowsmith has been undertaking the first comprehensive documentation of the Australian war bridesââ¬â¢ experiences. The research came about as a result of a much larger project on Australian women in the US by Professor Jill Roe, who first became interested in the largely unresearched topic while serving as Visiting Professor of Australian Studies at Harvard University in the mid 1990s.
Arrowsmith has since set up a database of 200 Australian war brides living in the US; developed and administered questionnaires relating to every aspect of their lives, from their parentsââ¬â¢ thoughts on their wartime marriages to their educational and employment opportunities in the US; and performed 50 extensive face-to-face interviews during trips to the US in 1999 and 2001.
Each of these trips coincided with war bridesââ¬â¢ reunions in Nevada and Colorado, and Arrowsmith also caught up with informal gatherings of war brides, including one group of 16 women who have been meeting together each month for many years.
The first thing that struck her about the women she interviewed was their amazing spirit in the face of enormous adversity, directly opposing the popular perception that the marriages were often the result of one night stands or brief infatuations.
"Some of them actually corresponded for years before they married, some were engaged and stuck here in Australia for two or three years before they could get to America due to all the red tape during war time," Arrowsmith explains. "Neither the US nor Australian governments were very supportive, and in practice the war brides faced many difficulties and delays in getting to America."
As well as political and public opposition, some women experienced resistance from their families or their husbandsââ¬â¢ families, or even from the commanding officer of their partnerââ¬â¢s unit ââ¬â who had to give permission for the marriage in the first place. Others faced a logistical nightmare, which may have included a train ride across the Nullabor from Perth to Sydney or Brisbane with a small baby in tow, followed by a long-term wait in a boarding house for a ship and a two-week-long voyage to the US.
"They didnââ¬â¢t all have happy experiences, of course, and some of them went from quite different origins, contrasting very much with where they ended up," Arrowsmith adds. "Some of them went to arid deserts and others to cold, rugged mountain areas and others to ethnic enclaves.
"I think something that runs through the character of all these women is they seemed to be imbued with the indomitable Australian pioneering spirit ââ¬â they were prepared to make the best of whatever happened."
Another common trait which immediately struck Arrowsmith during the interviews was the war bridesââ¬â¢ strong links to Australia.
"Most of them see themselves as Australians, which is remarkable after 50 years," she says. "Some of them even say that with the strongest American accent. They all have very strong links: theyââ¬â¢ve kept in touch with family and friends; they seem to be very fond of keeping up with Australian films and books; and are interested in whatever Australian news they do get.
"Also, most of those I visited in their homes had Australiana "corners" with boomerangs on the wall and koala tea cosies. The group of 16 women each brought a plate to their luncheon, including lamingtons and all sorts of old-fashioned Australian fare such as devon rolled around mashed potato with a toothpick through it. They sang around the table ââ¬ËI love Aeroplane Jellyââ¬â¢ and other old Australian songs and had the time of their lives."
This strong Australian identity is all the more remarkable given that many of the war brides felt compelled to give up their Australian citizenship in order to take up US citizenship."Many o them gave up their Australian citizenship unwillingly and grudgingly, certainly reluctantly, to become US citizens, which they felt they wanted to do because their families were growing up there, they wanted to vote and so forth," Arrowsmith says.
"There has been legislation passed in April allowing dual citizenship to now be granted, but itââ¬â¢s not retrospective so it probably wonââ¬â¢t help the war brides. Quite a few of them would just give anything to have dual citizenship."
Arrowsmithââ¬â¢s research may eventually turn into a PhD study, and she and Roe would like to extend the project to ensure it is truly representative of the group. But Arrowsmithââ¬â¢s immediate focus is on a book sheââ¬â¢s compiling of some of the war bridesââ¬â¢ stories.
"These women were all in their later years and very anxious for some chronicling of their experiences as a record for future generations," she says. "They were so generous to me, telling me some quite poignant, moving stories. What I would like to do is give them something in return for their generosity, so I thought I would take time out to write the book and transcribe the tapes."
Perhaps this book and the research project, once it is completed, will finally set at rest the stereotypes still surrounding this largely ignored group of Australian women.
"They seem to me to be wonderfully self reliant people," Roe says. "I was quite proud of some of them, so bold. I guess they really didnââ¬â¢t have that much of an idea what they were doing, but they did it."
http://www.pr.mq.edu.au/macnews/ShowItem.asp?ItemID=143
Dual Citizenship for Australian War Brides and Their Children
March 2007 - In case you have not heard yet, major new Australian citizenship legislation has just been passed by Australia's federal parliament in Canberra.
This will give thousands of Australian-born war brides and their children in the US new rights to apply for Australian citizenship from the implementation date of 1 July 2007. Unfortunately, many have no idea and may miss out on the benefits of Australian citizenship (and dual citizenship) simply because they are oblivious. We are trying to reach as many as possible.
http://www.geocities.com/us_warbrides/AmWarBrides/whatsnew.html
