Life in the 1940s

The first half of the 1940s was absorbed with World War II. The war was a time of worry and heartache for people around the world, but life went on in spite of the senseless, tragic conflict that consumed the lives of so many loved ones, destroyed homes and livelihoods, and scattered families around the globe. Family living in the first half of the decade saw many people face difficulties beyond measure.

Townsville, North Queensland, in the 1940's was a major base and stepping off point for the War in the Pacific. As a little boy I knew that there was something called a war going on, and that my parents were worried about it, but I understood little of it. I accepted the uniforms of the servicemen, the military vehicles, the warships in the bay and the planes flying overhead as a normal part of my life. As far as I was concerned, they had always been there.

How different it must have been for my parents who listened intently to the daily news on their little 1940's radio, and feared for our safety, or for the servicemen who were faced with moving up to the battle zone, where each man had a job to do, and that job was dreadful.

For my part, like all the little boys of my age, I played soldiers, or was the pilot of a Kittyhawk or a Lockheed Lightning, zooming across the sky. Children's toys were almost non existent, except for those handed down from older children, or pieced together from bits of wood, string and nails. We did not experience manufactured toys until after the war. How we used to hover by the window of Doyle's, in Stokes Street, staring at the beautifully made Dinky cars. They were irresistible, if only we could save the few shillings to start a collection.

During the War we had an Air-raid Shelter built in our back yard that was big enough for our family and some of our neighbours, and some soldiers arrived one day and dug two slit trenches in our front yard, where they could mount a Machine-gun. Fortunately we didn't need the Machine-gun,...