Description

Volume 5: 1945 – 1970

As the Second World War came to an end in 1945, the hopes of a lasting world peace were soon dashed as defeated Fascist governments were quickly replaced by the rise of Communist aggression and the heralding in of a Cold War that threatened a third world war and the use of nuclear weapons.

In the sixteen townships and suburbs that made up the former Shire of Lillydale, these turbulent times had an effect on the lives of its residents. Whether they debated and argued locally over communism in the pubs, the halls or the local newspaper or whether they put on a uniform and sought to suppress it or fight it on battlefields, in the air space or on the sea lanes throughout Asia.

Using the words of the men and women from that area who lived through it, this book reveals how our nation’s fight against communism between 1945 and 1970 effected this district in many ways, and the role that those from the district played as a result. It tells the story, decade by decade and theme by theme through the lens of one Victorian region and includes those locals who came to be involved with:

• British Commonwealth Occupation Forces Japan
• Woomera, Maralinga and the nuclear tests
• The Homefront and the debates over communism
• The Korean War (1950 – 1957)
• The Malayan Emergency (1950 – 1959)
• Full time service in the Armed Forces (1945 – 1970)
• National Service (1951 – 1959)
• Indonesia Confrontation (1963 – 1966)
• HMAS Voyager (1964)
• The Citizen Military Forces
• National Service (1965 – 1972)
• Training for Vietnam
• Over 100 residents interviewed * includes lists of those locals that served *

With a foreword by Major Kenneth Mackenzie OAM (rtd)