Deborah Burrows's Blog, page 5

This is a lovely video about the iconic poster 'Keep Calm and Carry On' that has become so widespread and parodied. It was never actually distributed in World War 2, and was discovered many decades later in probably one of the most gorgeous bookshops in the world. Take time to enjoy it...

These are interesting. Here is a Japanese poster warning Aussie soldiers that the Americans were stealing their girls:


The 70th anniversary of the bombing of Darwin was last week. Apparently the Germans produced theone below, because it mentions El Alamein. (And the 'jour' instead of 'your' is rather teutonic.) At least a 'jolly good time' was less threatening than 'Australia screams'. But what is that odd creature at the top of the pamphlet? A platypus? I know that they're uniquely Australian creatures, but hardly the universal image of  Australia. Hadn't the Nazis heard of kangaroos?  Or emus? Or thought even to look at our coat of arms?



This one is directed at the US troops - who presumably might otherwise mistake a Digger for a Japanese soldier!

This is an Aussie-UK friendship poster. Is it just me, or is that English bulldog a bit scrawney compared with the boxing kangaroo? And the kangaroo and dog seem so happy - look at the dog's tail wag as he gets in a bite where it really hurts!

Australia went wild for the Americans in 1942 - well we thought we were facing Japanese invasion, and besides, the dougboys were awfully cute. They had tailored uniforms, charming manners and accents like movie stars. And boy, could they dance...
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This is from the Australian Women's Weekly of 13 June 1942. The recipes are, er, interesting:
SUPPER MENU No. 1Fruit Juice CocktailCreamed Spaghetti CheeseStuffed Cucumber and Beet withSalad GreensFrosted Orange SpongeMint Julep CoffeeA word about these fruit juice cocktails. Serve them very cold, even in winter, or very hot. Mulled juice is fruit juice spiced and steaming hot. Try it, lt's good!The flavor, whether hot or cold, should be decisive. Try in the juice some crushed mint leaves or a few cloves or blade mace, or even a red chilli, straining before serving.Talking of flavor, the spaghetti cheese must be piquant and interesting. If you live near some parts I know you can add, without worrying the budget, a few plump oysters just before serving or some peeled whole mushrooms.The stuffed cucumber and beet slices make an excellent combination with a fish mayonnaise. They are good, however, just with salad greens and dressing. Try perhaps some tiny hot cheese scones with them. The Americans call these scones biscuits.Stuffed Cucumber and Beet Salad: Cut 1 cucumber in halves, crosswise.Peel and flute with a fork. Remove centre from each end with an apple corer, making as large a hole as possible. Fill centre firmly with the following: 1 cup breadcrumbs, 3 cup finely-chopped beetroot, 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1 teaspoon gelatine dissolved in 1 tablespoon water. Chill,cut in slices, and serve in nests of lettuce leavesMint Julep: Combine 1/3rd cup freshly crushed mint leaves, 1 cup sugar, l/3rd cup lemon juice and 1 cup water. Stand 30 minutes and strain. Pour over ice cubes, add 1 pint ginger ale.

This is a newspaper article about the Commando campaign on Timor in 1942-3.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/12965411/ragtag-bunch-turned-the-tide/

Seventy years ago today the Japanese invaded Timor and my 20-year-old father, Jeff ("Rocky") Williams embarked on his amazing journey of mateship and survival against almost overwhelming odds. He was a commando in the 2/2 Independent Company. Winston Churchill said of them later: "They alone did not surrender."

This is the Damien Parer documentary made about them - Dad refers to how Parer made the film, in his diary. They had to recreate some scenes and Dad thought it was hilarious to have to do several 'takes' of an attack. They'd been living the real thing for ten long months.


This is a photo of him - he's on the far left, holding the rifle:
Here's another, a studio portrait. He had his twenty-first birthday on Timor, living in appalling conditions, always hungry, always moving to avoid capture.  There's an interesting exhibition about them on at present at the Perth Museum. Well worth a visit.
In his diary he wrote:7/5/1942"It must be hard on (the Japanese) us killing and wounding so many for a few casualties. The natives around Dilli say we are "Lulic" (gods) and we come up out of the ground and kill Japs and then disappear back into the ground. It must seem like that, as in the last 6 raids, not one Jap has seen an Australian. The natives say that the Japs are pretty scared of the Australians."
By the way, he said of Melbourne: "We were given leave that night and had a good time around town, but this fair city did not impress me, to my eye it looked smudgy and dirty and not a bit like Perth which is always clean no matter where one looks, but never the less I enjoyed my night's leave."

I'm on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/PanMacmillanAus?ob=0&feature=results_main

It's me talking about my novel. I tried to explain the background to the book, what made me decide to write it. Not the plot, which doesn't relate to my parents at all and is entirely out of my imagination.

It's all starting to happen now, with my first library talk arranged and probably a feature newspaper interview. And the book doesn't come out until June!

Here's a preview of the front cover:

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We had a lot of new dancehalls (which we called cabarets in Perth) and the sailors and soldiers would often get in for free. Due to wartime measures, by law the sale of alcohol was supposed to cease at 6.00pm on the dot. So, just before 6.00 there'd be a mad rush for the bar, which was called 'the six o'clock swill'. But most of the cabarets kept serving booze well into the night...

My mother was involved in one called 'The Toppers' Club', which entertained servicemen with dances and musical evenings. They met at Paterson's tearooms, in the basement of the Art Deco Gledden Building on the corner of Hay Street and William Street, which is the only 'New York' building in Perth (or rather, the sole example of an inter-war Art Deco high-rise office building in Perth):



(I bet that Cpl Menick treasured his pencil!!)
I thought, in the next posts, I'd post a few links to songs everyone was singing or dancing to in the war. So let's start with Vera Lynn:



And now some boogie woogie:

I Thought that I'd put in something about slacks - they were frowned upon before the war, but with women engaging 'male' work, and stockings in short supply, slacks soon became commonplace.





 


 

Most dresses were made from plain, lightweight fabrics so as not to obstruct movement or dance. Any detail or embellishments on dresses tended to be around the waist. Shoulder pads were a recurring detail in 1940s' evening gowns, as were pleats and draping. Plunging necklines and backs became popular too. These dresses were from 1940, before rationing really began to bite. Those full skirts soon became slimmer as material was rationed, to look more like the dresses below.   



As the war dragged on, it became more difficult to find enough material for floor length gowns, and short frocks were declared suitable for evening wear and dancing. As was written in the Womens' Weekly of January 1943: 

Fashion today stresses the narrow, short silhouette which obviously calls for less material. A skilfully arranged drape or fold on the skirt relieves the impression of skimpiness.

Floor-length evening dresses have been replaced by decollete, street length frocks, thus eliminating superfluous yardage. Parti-colored frocks reflect the ingenuity of the designer to use off-length materials - even scraps.