Interview with Bob Taylor (When the war came to Australia)

Mr Bob Taylor worked in the Post Office in 1942 when he was 13 years old. His work there involved shredding documents, receiving telegrams and operating as a bicycle messenger. He tells a number of stories about delivering telegrams and also describes his feelings of nervousness delivering POW telegrams and telegrams informing people of a relative's death. Mr Taylor mentions blackouts. Mr Taylor also worked as a Boy Scout Police Observer when he was twelve. He talks about the community's shared fear of invasion and air raids. He comments on the general feeling against the Japanese and notes that the soldiers were viewed as 'great heroes'. Mr Taylor discusses American servicemen in Adelaide and attitudes towards them. He mentions celebrating VE and VP day. Mr Taylor talks of the patriotic spirit the community felt when the war broke out, yet his father was a World War One veteran and a pacifist. Mr Taylor was involved in fundraising activities at school. Mr Taylor joined the Air Training Corps and was asked to teach Morse code which he had learnt at the Post Office. He recognises that they must have been very short of trained personnel since he was around sixteen at the time. He discusses rationing - clothing and petrol. Mr Taylor recounts a story of his parents visiting a medium in order to find out what had happened to a relative and his friend from the 24 Machine Gun Company who had been captured and held as POWs.