I was five years old when the War started. Almost eighty years later, my memories of the next seven years were all over the place. I still recall Dunkirk and Tobruk, Hitler and Chamberlain and Mussolini and Uncle Joe, the air raid shelters, and gas masks, and searchlights and the tank traps on the beach. I could even remember the very short shirt tails that a perceptive Government decreed were necessary to win the War,
But it was all a jumble to me. If you asked me to give a coherent record of the seven years, I could not have even started. So, I decided to sort it all out, by researching and writing this series.
This is the first in the Series. It covers the major events and ideas and some of the trivia of that year. Much of our Australia news in those days emanated from the War, so that each Chapter starts with the War scene. Then it drifts to military and politics, and ends with social matters and politics.
But overall, the emphasis is on those OZ social issues, and how the War was affecting families in their everyday environment.
I find there is intense interest in the War years. This is not just confined to the oldies who lived through those years, but it extends to younger generations who wonder at the amazing pace of life, and the enormity of the unfolding events, and the depth of heroism and courage almost beyond belief.