Volunteering and the war effort in Australia during World War II

Defending the home front

On 15 February 1942, Singapore fell to the Japanese. Prime Minister John Curtin made the difficult decision to call Australian troops back from the Middle East in preparation for a war closer to home. Defending Australia would now need all the country's available resources.

Four days later, on 19 February, the Japanese bombed Darwin for the first time.

In April 1942, Curtin addressed a rally in Sydney's Martin Place. The purpose was to launch a 35-million-pound fundraising drive for the war effort. In a stirring speech, Curtin called on all Australians to unite and defend Australia.

The full cabinet today directed the war cabinet to get the necessary regulations for the complete mobilisation and the complete ordering of all the resources, human and material, in this Commonwealth, for the defence of this Commonwealth. That means, clearly and specifically, that every human being in this country is now, whether he or she likes it, at the service of the Government to work in the defence of Australia.

[Australia's prime minister John Curtin, 12 April 1942, British Pathé.]

Australians were encouraged to volunteer in some capacity. Curtin did not distinguish between military personnel and civilians. In his view, everyone, including children, had a part to play if Australia was to be victorious. Even those in paid employment were expected to volunteer in some way.

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Civil defence measures

Although enemy forces did not attack mainland Australia frequently or heavily, the country did experience air and sea attacks during the war.

Between 1940 and 1945, more than 50 German and Japanese ships and submarines attacked Allied shipping in Australian waters.

On 19 February 1942, 188 Japanese planes attacked Darwin. Over the next 2 years, northern Australia experienced almost 100 air attacks.

Various organisations staffed by volunteers responded to protect the home front, including:

• Naval Auxiliary Patrol, which patrolled the coast for enemy ships
• Volunteer Air Observers Corps (VAOC), which spotted planes
• Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC).

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Air-raid precautions

Different organisations were responsible for air-raid precautions in each state and territory. They were responsible for appointing and training community air-raid wardens.

Blackout restrictions and air-raid warning instructions were introduced from late 1941. Air-raid sirens were set up. Men, women and children began building air-raid shelters, trenches and bunkers.

In New South Wales, more than 115,000 volunteers joined the National Emergency Services (NES). Almost half of these were wardens.

NES volunteers had many roles. These included:

• building air-raid shelters, including at schools and colleges
• checking blackout conditions
• maintaining air-raid security.

The NES was disbanded after the war.

Feeding and clothing the nation

During the war years, the role of keeping the country clothed and fed fell to Australian volunteers. Many families already had a vegetable garden or backyard orchard. But, with the promotion of the 'Dig for victory' campaign, more people took to growing their own food with enthusiasm.

Prime minister John Curtin launched 'Dig for victory' in January 1942. It became a practical way for Australians of all ages to 'do their bit' for the war effort.

Planting fruit and vegetables in home gardens and neighbourhood plots:

• helped feed families and communities
• connected neighbours in a common cause
• improved wartime morale
• raised much-needed money for charities, such as the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Legacy and YWCA.

As the war continued, these 'victory gardens' served an even more urgent purpose. Growing food became less about patriotism and frugality and more about food security.

More fresh produce was needed to replace that being sent to the United Kingdom (UK) for its war effort, as well as to feed Australians at home.

Increased food production was also needed to feed the influx of United States (US) troops who swelled Australia's population by late 1942.

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Entertaining service personnel

Volunteer and paid performers were recruited early in the war to entertain service personnel. They performed at training camps and service bases across Australia, Europe, the Middle East and New Guinea.

Wartime concert and theatre programs show personnel attended:

• comedy
• concerts
• dance
• female impersonators
• juggling
• movies
• radio broadcasts
• theatre shows
• ventriloquist acts.

By the end of the war, the Army's 1st Australian Entertainment Unit had given more than 12,000 performances.

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Female volunteers

Women of all ages and social classes were quick to volunteer for the war effort. They joined a diverse range of organisations, including:

• Air raid precautions organisations
• Australian Comforts Funds
• Australian Red Cross Society
• Australian Women's Land Army
• Country Women's Association
• various church and community groups
• Women's Australian National Service
• Women's Emergency Signalling Corps.

Many women volunteered to join Australia's armed services to serve in Australia and overseas:

• Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS), serving as Army nurses in Australia and overseas
• Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS), supporting the Army by taking over duties like driving, clerical work and operating searchlights
• Women's Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS), working as telegraphists, drivers and clerical staff
• Women's Australian Auxiliary Air Force (WAAAF), handling ground crew roles, signals and administrative duties.

Other women contributed in less formal ways. Some knitted during their lunch breaks. Others raised money for established charities, such as the Australian Red Cross and the Australian Comforts Fund. Countless more cooked millions of meals for service personnel around the country. Some signed up as entertainers, touring the country and the world.

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Australian Women's Land Army

Some 3,000 women joined the Australian Women's Land Army (AWLA).

Most recruits came from cities and often were unskilled in farm work. Women who lived in rural communities were not eligible to join.

Members of the AWLA played an essential role in maintaining rural production. They grew and harvested food for Australian personnel serving at home and overseas. They helped feed US personnel stationed across Australia and the south-western Pacific region. And they also produced wool, cotton and flax to clothe and equip service personnel.

AWLA members were paid, but at a lower rate than men in similar jobs.

Women in rural and regional areas contributed to the war effort in other ways. Many women on family farms took responsibility for running them in the absence of male family members serving overseas. Others volunteered for the Women's Agricultural Security Production Service (WASPS) or helped out where and when they could.

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Australian Red Cross

Some 600,000 Australians, including children, supported the war effort through the Australian Red Cross.

Red Cross volunteers provided medical, welfare and other auxiliary services, including:

• blood donation drives
• cooking at military hospitals and bases
• driving the sick and wounded to medical care
• food parcels for prisoners of war
• fundraising
• hospital visits
• immunisation programs
• library services.

During and after the war, members of the Australian Red Cross helped look for missing persons, bringing loved ones home and giving some closure to the families of those who did not return.

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Voluntary Aid Detachments

Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs) served in Australia and overseas. They received a wage from 1940.

VADs received basic medical training in patient care. But unlike nurses, VADs had no formal qualifications. Their role was a supporting one, serving in hospitals, convalescent homes and on troopships. Duties varied, but included:

• basic patient care and hygiene
• cooking, clerical and laundry duties
• driving patients to appointments
• emptying bedpans
• making beds
• taking blood.

In December 1942, the growing number of VADs was incorporated into the Australian Army Medical Women's Service (AAMWS).

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Australian Comforts Fund

The Australian Comforts Fund (ACF) was a voluntary organisation that provided service personnel with the comforts of home. First set up during World War I, the ACF was reinstated in 1939.

The ACF was mostly staffed by female volunteers. Not only did they raise money for care packages for people serving overseas, but they also packaged and sometimes distributed these.

Near the battlefields, the ACF also funded and staffed facilities, such as tea rooms for soldiers.

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As well as organising personal care items, the ACF provided recreational equipment. Sporting equipment, record players and music were always appreciated by service personnel far from home. The ACF also handed out paper and pens so people could write to their loved ones.

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Each serviceman received a personal care package when he embarked for service, including:

• books and magazines
• canned food
• cigarettes
• clothing
• razor blades
• soap.

Servicewomen were not forgotten by the ACF. Their comforts of home included sanitary items, talcum powder and skincare products.

By the time it closed on 27 June 1946, the ACF had funded, packed and distributed more than 1.5 million Christmas hampers.

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Children's efforts

Children were also expected to contribute to war efforts on the home front. Their contributions included:

• collecting recycling for the war effort
• growing food
• helping families look after siblings while parents worked
• preparing for possible air raids
• raising money for the war effort.

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