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Reading list

Australian Women’s Land Army (AWLA)

The major reference is Australia in the war of 1939–45, Series 4: Civil. The volumes in this series are: 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); and S.J. Butlin, War economy 1942–1945, Australia in the War of 1939–1945, Civil, vol. 4 (Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1977). [These volumes detail food production and consumption during the war including sections on the AWLA.]

Joan Beaumont, Australian defence: sources and statistics, The Australian centenary history of defence, vol. 6 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001). [Contains an entry and outlines sources for the AWLA]

Peter Dennis et al. "Australian Women’s Land Army", in The Oxford companion to Australian military history (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1995.) [Includes brief entry by Sue Hardisty]

Sue Hardisty, Thanks girls and goodbye! The story of the Australian Women’s Land Army 1942–1945 (Ringwood, Vic: Viking O’Neil, 1990) [Based on oral history and private records]

Mary Macklin, The fourth service: ex Australian Women's Land Army, World War II (Maryborough, Qld: M. Macklin, 2001.) [History of AWLA, Queensland Division. Based on memoirs and includes copies of original source material]

Jean Scott, Girls with grit: memories of the Australian Women's Land Army (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1986.) [History of the AWLA; includes useful bibliography.]

Mollie Bayne, Australian women at war (Melbourne: Research Group of the Left Book Club of Victoria, 1943) [Provides a left-wing perspective on women and labour, including pay, working conditions, and trade unions during the war period. Also includes a chapter on the AWLA.]