7 March 1942 - Wednesday Wedding Photo, War brides & Kittyhawks

 

I heard a lovely story today on the radio about a lady who is celebrating her 90^th birthday today.

She grew up in Wales, UK, and worked as a children’s nanny. During the war she met an Australian Soldier and when the war ended they were married and moved to Australia.  They had five children, and now have 13 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.   I wish I could see her wedding photo!

Instead, I thought it might be nice to post a vintage wedding photo each week to see the styles of dress, including wedding dresses and outfits of the men– hence Wednesday Wedding Photo. This photo is from the February 1942 Australasian Magazine.

A sailors uniform and a simple white dress with shoulder pads, long veil and spectacular bouquet.

War brides gave up a lot when they married soldiers from other countries – their families, friends, jobs and sometimes citizen ship.  It has been estimated that almost 50,000 women came to Australia over the 20th century because they fell in love with an Australian serviceman.  As well as that, between 1942 and 1946, some 15,000  Australian women fell in love with US servicemen and made the long voyageby ship to start a new life in America.  When you think that almost 1 million American service personnel, including about 100,000 African-Americans, passed through Australia during World War II, the figure doesn’t seem that great.

You can read about an Australian War bride who went to the US here, and also here, or find a copy of the novel War Brides, here.

News of the day – an RAAF P-40E Kittyhawk crashed at Kyogle, NSW.  Thankfully the pilot survived the crash, but the plane was one of three 75 Squadron P-40's that crashed that day because of bad weather while being ferried north from Bankstown.   The 75 Squadron was formed at Townsville, QLD on 4 March 1942 and flew missions to New Guinea and Malta.

Kittyhawk at Townsville 1942

Have a great vintage day,

Deb