Interview with Pat Heher (When the war came to Australia).

Mrs Pat Heher worked in Sydney at David Jones department store in the shoe section. The Ministry of Munitions took over the Market Street store, so the entire concern was crammed into the Elizabeth Street store. Mrs Heher describes the quota system for selling stock and the rationing system. Much shoe production went into the manufacture of army boots. Mrs Heher continues to describe how the women continued the men's jobs after they left, at their levels of pay and conditions. The top floor of the store was a club for American soldiers. She describes Christmas during the war and that getting cakes to the boys was of prime concern. She describes her fiance and brother's service with the 2/5th Field Regiment in Syria, El Alamein, New Guinea and Borneo, where her brother died. Mrs Heher married her fiance, Frank, when he returned, after a three year war absence. Her wedding gifts consisted of baking dishes and money. The guest list and wedding photos were restricted as rationing applied here as well. People had to improvise, unbleached calico easily available, people sewed with it and made many of their clothes.