DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR THOUSANDS OF women went to work on farms throughout Australia while the men were away fighting. The women who volunteered had little experience of country life, they were overwhelmingly drawn from the cities and they were accepted initially with reluctance and scepticism by the local farming communities. They went to a life of unremitting, even dangerous, physical labour, incredibly long hours of toil and miserable pay. Yet the women quickly proved themselves to be tough, resourceful and indefatigable workers whose efforts kept Australian agriculture alive at a time of critical need.
THANKS GIRLS AND GOODBYE IS BASED ON THE highly successful ABC television documentary of the same name, which was developed by Sue Hardisty. It includes a collection of recent interviews in which a number of the volunteers recount their experiences with humour and insight. They reflect on the irrevocable changes these experiences wrought in their lives and reveal the great attachment they developed for the land and its people. Sue Hardisty spent two years travelling to all States and met over 500 women who had worked on farms during the Second World War. Her text places their vivid reminiscences within the wider context of a nation at war, and she draws on contemporary letters and photographs that are a rich and diverse history in themselves.
Thanks Girls and Goodbye Australian Women's Land Army Paperback 1990 GD
