ON THE HOME FRONT : Western Australia and World War II

AUSTRALIAN MILITARY / WEST AUSTRALIANA

Looking behind the public face of wartime Western Australia, ‘On the Homefront’ ventures into the private world of the individual citizen living through the war, the hardships, of rationing, new opportunities for women, the separation of husbands and wives, children brought without fathers, the men who stayed at home and the plight of of returning servicemen. On the Homefront looks beyond military battles and world politics to examine how ordinary people responded to war and its aftermath – from women ‘manpowered’ into the work force to the men who stayed at home; from families torn asunder to incapacitated returning servicemen and refugees from war-ravaged Europe. And it reveals the more controversial aspects of war: the sinking of HMAS Sydney, Japanese raids on nor’west towns, a rigid internment policy, the evacuation of ‘whites’ from the north of the State, the gaoling of ‘subversives’, blatant racist propaganda, and the targeting of women accused of spreading venereal disease.

• xiv, 364 p. : ill., maps ; 26 cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. 353-358) and index.
• World War, 1939-1945 — Social aspects — Western Australia
• Western Australia — History

#0517R/0519/1019/0121/231021/ 111123 First Edition (Small prev ownership name on fep.)