Peter Cahill wrote that the *Australia Remembers* campaign had overlooked
the number of Australian/British refugees who arrived in Australia to a,
generally, cool welcome.
I have been asked to help someone researching the history of WWII refugees
from Singapore to Australia. It is well beyond my area of forest and
environmental history and I would be most grateful for any leads as to
existing studies, sources or advice on how this project might be pursued.
The project is provisionally titled *Women and children last* to reflect
the fact that there seems to have been little recognition of their life
experiences in all the commemorations. Most of the families who fled from
Singapore to Australia are thought to have been British and were dispersed
around Victoria (and other States ?).
The project raises a number of interesting issues about the experience of
these families - both wives and children - their responses to separation,
bereavement for some and eventual repatriation.
What other parts of H-Net might elicit information ? especially at the
British end ?
John Dargavel, Urban Research Program, ANU Tel (06) 249 2118