An Odd Lot? Self-Help, Women, and War

Abstract

The possibility of a Japanese invasion of Australia in early 1942 prompted the Queensland Trades and Labour Council to arrange the evacuation of some children from Brisbane and north Queensland to northern New South Wales. Australia was inadequately manned and poorly armed and it was rumoured that little attempt would be made to hold any territory north of what became known as the 'Brisbane Line'. North Queensland would not be adequately defended and Brisbane would be part of the front line of defence. The Army High Command had indeed made it clear to the Federal Government that the area from Brisbane to Melbourne and including the important Port Kembla Sydney-N ew castle-Lit hgow area, vital to the war effort, would be difficult enough to hold ivithout reinforcements, and impossible to hold if troops were diverted from this area in an attempt to defend what were described as 'isolated localities'. There is no evidence that the Government accepted this advice and in any case, Australian and American reinforcements arrived before a decision became necessary, but the rumour that such a plan had been adopted and the failure of both the Queensland and Federal Governments to plan for the evacuation of children from these endangered areas, led to the decision by the Trades and Labour Council to take action itself. The idea for an evacuation colony originated with the Painters' and the Carpenters' Unions, both affiliated to the Trades and Labour Council. The Women's Auxiliary of the Council was formed in February 1941, and the task of implementing the proposal fell to it. Two colonies were established, one at Bonalbo, near Casino, and the other further inland, at Boggabilla. Mabel Hanson, whose husband Jack was the Secretary of the Painters' Union, tuas involved in the organisation of the evacuation as Secretary of the Women's Auxiliary. The two colonies were run along similar lines, but more is known about the colony at Bogga billa, which moved to nearby Yetman three months after it was formed, and this is the colony about which Jean Sullivan writes. There tvere about 40 children in the colony, with 5 or 6 people looking after them, led by Mrs Norma Andrews. Mrs Andrews had been trained at a course run by Lady Cilento in mother craft, nutrition, sani tation and hygiene, so was well qualified to be in charge of the colony. Most of the children were from Brisbane, although some were from North Queensland, and most were the children of Trades and Labour Council members. Their parents paid fifteen shillings a week for each child. Bulk non-perishable food ivas bought by a committee in Brisbane and sent