Abstract

Winner of an ARC Cultural Research Network Early Career Researcher/Postgraduate Student Conference Subsidy

"All the glamour of the East": The Australian Women's Weekly and the AIF in Malaya , 1941

In March 1941, Tilly Shelton-Smith became the first Australian woman journalist to report on Australian troops serving overseas, when she travelled to Malaya to cover the activities of the 8th division Australian Imperial Force (AIF) for the Australian Women's Weekly. The series of articles, which aimed to provide 'good cheer and comfort' to the home front, subsequently caused a furore because of the perceived inference that the troops were fraternising with local Asian women and enjoying lives 'full of gaiety in exotic surroundings.' This paper will explore the experiences of Shelton-Smith in the context of wartime censorship, morale and propaganda, and examine the extent to which Shelton-Smith's gender influenced both her journalism and her treatment.

Jeannine Baker
University of Melbourne