Australian airmen in the Aldwych, London, outside Australia House, view the sign to the Boomerang Club, c. 1942. The club opened in March 1942 and catered for Australian service personnel from all three services visiting London. The BBC made weekly broadcasts to Australia from the club featuring 'personal messages to relatives' from servicemen, and those in Australia eager to hear the voice of a loved one far away were alerted by weekly radio timetables in newspapers to when such broadcasts were to be made. These broadcast always rounded up with a special signature tune featuring a final 'Boomerang' refrain, written by famous British bandleader Jack Payne. Newspapers also sometimes printed the names of those who had visited the club at a particular time, so on 12 May 1942 The West Australian let its readers know that Pilot Officer RR Oldham of Perth, Pilot Officer SE Thomson of Wyalkachem, and Aircraftman Hansen were 'all well', had spent half of their leave in Scotland and had been to the Boomerang Club. ['London Gossip', The West Australian, 12 May 1942; 'Boomerang', The Horsham Times, 17 July 1942; State Library of Victoria, H99.205/804, an015703]
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