Women and the Ford Factory

During World War II the Ford Factory in Geelong was converted to the wartime work including shipbuilding operations (1939 - 1945). Ford built 455 Australian landing barges & tug boats made from welded steel. As most of the male workforce was in uniform, women mainly built these ships.

More information:

• http://www.forddiscovery.com/heritage/ford-milestones/ford-milestones-1940s.htm

1940s: Growing up as a girl in Corio

Elizabeth Brown (nee Minns) wrote of her childhood during the war years around this area: During the war air raid shelters were built on the corner of North Shore Road & Melbourne Road opposite what was then the Corio Shire Hotel, which was later demolished when the road became a four lane highway. The Norlane Hotel is now situated where the air raid shelters once were. For the older residents the Corio Shire Hotel was a good meeting place after work & Saturdays. Hotels were closed on Sundays. Often the men having had a few too many drinks, & riding their bikes home across the paddock near Hamiltons, would fall off. After they had had a rest & continued their ride home we would go across to see if they had left anything behind & often found some threepences which had fallen out of their pockets. We thought we were millionaires!! (http://northshoreandnorlanestories.com/5ed84ac0-f100-4423-82bc-ddda9467a936.html)

Women join the Women's Volunteer Police Force

1942. 

Geelong women sworn in at the Public Offices as members of the Women’s Volunteer Police Force.

 (The Argus, Thursday 12 Feb, 1942, p. 4)

Helen Garner: Author

Helen Garner was born in 1942 in Geelong and she attended Manifold Heights Primary School and The Hermitage Private Girls School in Newtown.

Her first novel Monkey Grip was published in 1977. It won a National Book Council award in 1978 was filmed in 1982. Since then, Postcards from Surfers won a 1986 NSW Premier's Literary award, & her short novel The Children's Bach won a SA Premier's Literary Award in 1986. Her novel Cosmo Cosmolino was nominated for a Miles Franklin Award in 1993. In 1993 she won a Walkley Award for feature journalism for her story in Time magazine about the Daniel Valerio case. Her first non-fiction book, The First Stone (1995) was highly controversial. It explored a sexual harassment case at the University of Melbourne which led to the sacking of the Master of Ormond college. She was widely criticised by many feminists for being too sympathetic to the Master and angered supporters of the two female students who bought the case against him.

Link here to more information about Helen Garner: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Garner

Several YouTube videos of Helen discussing her work are available.

Award winning novelist

Dorothy Johnston is an award-winning novelist, poet, short story writer, and author of reviews and literary essays who was born in Geelong, Victoria, in 1948. She was winner of the Miles Franklin Award 1986 and 1997. After living in Canberra for thirty years, she has returned to the Bellarine Peninsula, and her new novel (forthcoming Bewrite books) is a sea-change mystery set in Queenscliff titled, 'Through a Camel's Eye'.

Link to her website here:

• http://www.dorothyjohnston.com.au/

Christian Waller and stained glass

Christian Waller a famous woman artist designed one of the stained glass windows inside Christchurch and in 1942 painted a large mural on the west wall of the church. There is only one other recorded mural by Christian in existence. Christian was also renowned for her illustration work and was the Australian to illustrate Alice in Wonderland. Her work is seen of immense national significance. She pioneered the use of stained glass in Australia, was one of the first Australian female stained glass artists, a book illustrator and supported her husband on her art for a period of time when he returned injured from the first World War. Other windows designs are at Queens College, the University of Melbourne, St. James Cathedral, Melbourne.  


She made a total of sixty-five individual stained glass panels - which in terms of quantity, artistry and quality, place her as one of the leading Australian stained glass makers of the twentieth century. 


Link here to an image of her stained glass window in Geelong:

• http://www.starnewsgroup.com.au/indy/geelong/216/story/129469.html

Images of her work can be found at:

• http://www.stpaulscanterbury.org.au/heritage.htm

For more information please follow these links:

• Art Gallery of Ballarat: http://www.artgalleryofballarat.com.au/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/christian-waller-from-klytie-pate.aspx
• Design and Art Australia online: http://www.daao.org.au/bio/christian-waller/
• Australian Dictionary of Biography: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/waller-christian-marjory-emily-carlyle-11944

Equal pay fights

1942 Geelong women provide evidence in a equal pay case presented to the Employment Board for equal pay for equal work in the automotive industry (The Advertiser, Thursday 17th September, 1942, p. 6)

Call up of Geelong women for the war effort

1943: The call up of Geelong women to support the war effort began in 1943:

“The call-up for interview of single women in the metropolitan area not gainfully employed, which had been in progress for the last month, was nearing completion, said officials of the Manpower Directorate yesterday. Arrangements were now being made 'for interviewing women in Victorian provincial centres, & a commencement would be made at Geelong within the next week or 2.” From the Argus, 14th Jan 1943, p. 9

Women and the war effort - waste management

• 1940s: “Congratulations to the young women of Geelong for the splendid work they are doing in the "War on Waste" campaign, writes "Harvey" in the Sydney "Sun-Pictorial." Their example, if more widely known, would perhaps in spire other municipalities or groups of women who are looking for a job of work to do. These fine women of Geelong get together & allot days & routes to each member. These are announced daily in the local newspaper & householders on the route concerned for that day are requested to have their collections of waste ready on the foot- path, or if wet, on a handy veranda. Clean newspapers (tied up in bundles to facilitate loading) are requested,' scrap paper, cardboard, cartons, clean rags & clothing, envelopes & torn up letters (placed in paper bags), waste metal such as copper, brass, zinc, lead, corks, bottles & jars of all kinds, The girls often ring a bell as they drive along to announce their arrival in the street. It will be interesting to see what will become of this scheme now that petrol is to be rationed still further, but I shall not be at all surprised to find that this group has requisitioned the local "neddy" to help them in their work. Their self-sacrifice has certainly been well rewarded, for during the 12 months a sum of £1689 Os. Sd. has been received for the sale of waste products, including £5S6 15s. 9d. for waste metals. Hats off to the girls of Geelong.” Morning Bulletin (1941, July 16th), p.4)

Women ambulance drivers

1941. Saturday 20 December 40 young Geelong women registered as emergency Ambulance drivers & the majority had already obtained their transport license. (The Argues, Saturday 20 December 1941, p. 2)