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Reading list

Australia on the home front, 1939-1945

Further online resources

Australia under attack 1942-43

The major reference is Australia in the war of 1939-45, Series 4 Civil.
Paul Hasluck, The government and the people 1939–1941, Australia in the War of 1939-1945, Civil, vol. 1 (Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1952)
Paul Hasluck, The government and the people 1942–1945, Australia in the War of 1939-1945, Civil, vol. 2(Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1955)
S.J Butlin, War economy 1939–1942, Australia in the War of 1939-1945, Civil, vol. 3 (Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1955)
S.J. Butlin, War economy 1942–1945, Australia in the War of 1939-1945, Civil, vol. 4 (Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1977)

Andrew Bolt (ed), Our home front 1939-1945: the tears, the tragedies, the laughter from the pages of The Herald and The Sun (Melbourne: Wilkinson Books, c1995). [Wartime reports and pictures from two Melbourne newspapers]

Rosemary Campbell, Heroes and Lovers: a question of national identity (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1989). [Examines the impact of American troops whilst in Australia during the war years, includes bibliography]

Peter Charlton, South Queensland WWII, 1941-1945 (Bowen Hills, Qld: Boolarong Publications, 1991). [Includes bibliography, lists of Australian and American units in south east Queensland, and maps giving military locations for the City of Brisbane, Brisbane to Toowoomba and southern Queensland]

Rosemary Clark, The home front: life in Australia during World War II (Melbourne: Australia Post, 1991). [People share their memories of the war years]

Daniel Connell, The war at home: Australia 1939-1945 (Crows Nest: ABC Enterprises, 1988). [Material for this book came from interviews and letters collected for an ABC radio series in 1986 and deals with a wide range of subjects: home and school life, work, aliens, wartime bureaucracy]

Libby Connors, Australia's Front line: remembering the 1939-1945 war (St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1992). [More than four hundred recorded interviews, as well as photographs, writings and memorabilia are used to construct an account of Queensland’s home front]

Kate Darian-Smith, On the home front: Melbourne in wartime, 1939-1945 (South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1990). [Examines the experiences of families living in wartime Melbourne, includes oral sources and bibliography]

Garry Disher, Total War: the home front, 1939-1945 (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1983). [Written for middle secondary school students, includes bibliography, further reading, and lists of plays, films, radio and television programs]

Patricia Gee (ed), and Michelle Smith (ed), Redcliffe remembers: the war years 1939-1945 (Redcliffe: Redcliffe City Council, 2004). [Includes timeline, honour roll, nominal roll, 2nd battalion Queensland VDC and bibliography]

Jenny Gregory, On the homefront: Western Australia and World War II (Nedlands, WA: University of Western Australia Press, 1996). [Examines how ordinary people responded to war and its aftermath, and reveals the controversial aspects of war such as the rigid internment policy and the gaoling of subversives, also includes bibliography, chronological outline of armed forces in Western Australia and a timeline]

D. M. Horner, and J. Penglase, When the war came to Australia: memories of the Second World War (St Leonards: Allen & Unwin, 1992). [Provides an account of life on the home front through the recollections of many people, based on the ABC series of the same name]

Susan Johnston, and Lindsay Nation, Australia 1939 (Kensington: New South Wales University Press, 1989). [Captures in words and photographs the events of 1939 in Australia]

Nancy Kessing, The home front family album: remembering Australia 1939-1945 (Sydney: Weldon, 1981). [Newspaper articles, photographs, advertisements, cards, posters and documents recreate the atmosphere of wartime Australia]

Robert Lewis, A Nation at War: the Australian home front in the Second World War. Documents and Commentary (Melbourne: Longman Cheshire, 1984). [Collection of documents designed to assist students studying for the HSC Australian History course, includes practice essay questions, research guide and research questions]

Frank McBride, and Helen Taylor, Brisbane Remembers: The Home Front 1939-1945 (Brisbane: Brisbane City Council, 1995). [Draws on oral history interviews and the Brisbane Home Front exhibition to present a picture of Brisbane during the war years]

Michael McKernan, All in! : Fighting the war at home (St Leonards: Allen & Unwin, 1995). [Describes the hardship and humour of wartime Australia]

Brian McKinlay, Australia 1942: end of innocence (Sydney: Collins, 1985). [Describes the events of 1942 when Australia became vulnerable to attack by the Japanese, the nation was mobilised, food rationing began and American troops arrived]

P. O. Wilson, North Queensland WWII 1942-1945 (Brisbane: Department of Geographic Information, 1988). [Includes bibliography, lists of Australian and American units in north Queensland, and maps giving military locations for Townsville and surrounds, Cairns to Innisfail and north Queensland]