Australian Women In Ww2 Essay

640 Words3 Pages

Women's roles were extremely crucial during WW2, and they demonstrated this in numerous ways during the duration of the war, although men played an equally important part.

Australian women played a pivotal role in their contribution to the Auxiliary defense services during WW2. Before the war, nursing was the only service women could join, although, when the men had to go serve in the war, it allowed women to join a variety of defense services due to the vacancy of spots. In 1941 women were able to join the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) where they could work and maintain aircraft, operate radars and drive trucks. They could also join the Women's Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) where they worked as secretaries to admirals, …show more content…

At the start of the war, several work positions became available, as men had to enlist, which meant women were able to fill them. Women could take on “war essential jobs” that contributed to the “all in effort.” The jobs they could take on were, tram conductors, taxi and truck drivers, and, they were able to manufacture munitions and military equipment. During the duration of WW2, 200,000 women joined the war essential jobs to contribute to the all in effort. Secondly, women were able to join the Australian Women's Land Army (AWLA). The land army encouraged women 18-50 from city towns to join and work in farms. The land army was created to combat the shortages of workers on farms due to the amount of men enlisting. The Jobs women could do were Sheep shearing, Cattle herding, plowing, and vegetable and fruit growing. Enrolment peaked in December 1943 with 2,382 permanent members and 1,039 auxiliary members. Australian women played a pivotal role in war related industries, like the Land Army and Jobs that were essential to the war effort in …show more content…

Firstly, During the war, more than 1 million Australian men enlisted in the armed forces, fighting in Europe, the Mediterranean, North Africa, south-east Asia and other parts of the Pacific. The Australian men fought with the allied powers (Britain, France, and Russia) against the axis powers (Germany, Italy and Japan). Men could enlist in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) , The Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Secondly, men who couldn't serve in the war, joined war essential jobs. They could manufacture goods that were essential for the war effort, such as weapons, and aircraft, and could also work in the mines to extract resources, and finally could work in the civil defense, where men volunteered for civil duties, such as air raid wardens and fire wardens, to help protect the civilian population from enemy attacks, such as the darwin bombing from the japanese. At the end of the war nearly 39,000 Australian men lost their lives and another 30,000 had been taken prisoner. This shows many were fighting and gave up their lives for their country. Australian Men also played an equally pivotal role as women, during