Australia After World War I

 

By the end of WWI, Australia had lost 61,720 combatants killed and some 150,000 wounded. Close to half a million men served in the military (421,809), with 331,781 serving overseas including between 400 and 500 Indigenous soldiers.  While women's active service was confined to nursing, more than 2,000 Australian nurses served with the Australian Army Nursing Service, 130 with the British nursing service and 423 in hospitals in Australia.

 

After Gallipoli, the majority of the Australian Imperial Force was shifted to the Western Front in France and Belgium to fight against Germany. During this time Australian losses escalated further, reaching a peak in the fighting between September–November 1917 at the Battle of Passchendaele. Australian casualties over this period totalled 38,000. 

 

The end of the war in November 1918 came after 4 long years.  The experiences of women in Australia varied enormously.  While all women were relieved that war was over, for many their loved one was lost forever in a country far away which there would be no possiblity of ever visiting.  Celebrations were tinged with sadness, but also characterised by the desire to keep the memory of the 'boys' alive.  Many Labor voters and working class women believed they had been asked to carry a very heavy load and deeply resented the government's attitude to the war and how it had affected their family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Australia had been changed by World War I.  Life had sometimes been bitter and harsh, with many women required to manage work and family life without their men. Some of the old societal restrictions had loosened for women, reflected in fashion and leisure activities. Heavy full skirts with starched petticoats and starched collars and cuffs were replaced by more practical clothing.  Many women over the course of the war had learnt how to drive and now enjoyed greater freedom beyond domestic confines. Their men might be back, but for many Australian women, the longed-for return became a nightmare as the men vainly tried to re-adjust to civilian life while experiencing "shell shock".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Post war, the government still had much to do in terms of supporting veterans, and in this role the Red Cross and other women's organizations continued to play an important role throughout the 1920s.  Not only men, but the widows of veterans were assisted with courses teaching them employable skills such as millinery. The Red Cross continued to raise money and provide nursing, food and clothing for the returned soldiers and soldiers' families.