Melbourne, Vic. C. 1945. Three Australian wives and the fiancee of an American serviceman read ...

Melbourne, Vic. C. 1945. Three Australian wives and the fiancee of an American serviceman read books at the US Information Library. Left to right: Mrs Belmont, 20, wife of T/Sergeant Keith Belmont of 1301 Longfellow St, Washington, DC, USA; Mrs Mendell, 20, wife of Sergeant Wesley Arthur Mendell of 9242 168th Street, Jamaica 3, Long Island, New York, USA; Mrs Rillie, 24, wife of Private First Class (Pfc) Charles Hille, US Army, of 235 Midwood Street, Brooklyn, New York, USA. On the right is 20 year old Margaret Houlihan, fiancee of Pfc Mark Elfring of 1233 South West 60th Street, Portland, Oregon, USA. They are members of the US Servicemen's Wives and Fiancees Club made up of Australian war brides awaiting transport to America. The Club had branches in all capital cities and its aim was to acquaint the women with American customs, way of life, cooking methods, etc. In a period of two and a half years more than 10,000 marriages and 2,000 engagements between Australian women and US servicemen occurred in Australia.