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The former Southern Guardhouse was constructed between 1941 and 1942. It was an important part of the most northerly munitions works constructed in Australia during the Second World War. At its peak the factory employed around 3000 workers and traffic in and out of the factory was immense. As the factory was an important and highly vulnerable establishment guardhouses were established as checkpoints through which all pedestrian and vehicular traffic flowed thus ensuring the security of the site. Since the war the building has been converted to serve other purposes. It is presently accommodates a picture framing business. At its peak the Rocklea Munitions Works employed approximately 3,000 people. The larger Footscray factory in Melbourne, by comparison, employed over 9,000. The peak for Rocklea was reached in May 1943 when 926 men and 1,573 women were recorded as engaged in factory work. An additional 500 men and women worked in the associated areas of Army inspection, food services, medical and welfare. Absenteeism was a problem. The reasons blamed for this included the introduction of night shifts, the regimentation of the work, industrial fatigue and lack of proper meals. Source: heritage.brisbane.qld.gov.au/heritage-places/1406

During World War II (WWII), Australia faced a dilemma: Many women were eager to do their bit and contribute their skills to the “war effort”, but there was still widespread resistance to the notion of a woman doing a “man’s job” – surely they could not handle the physical or mental exertion and maintain their “femininity”? Meanwhile, many able-bodied men were refused enlistment to the armed forces because their occupations were considered essential to civil defence or other critical services and industries. As the war progressed and came closer to Australia’s shores, this need for more “manpower” grew even more pressing. Eventually it was conceded that women’s services would be required, though one question was still perplexing some: what exactly could women do? Source: www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/australian-women-work-wwii-keep-c...

Thanks for sharing these historic views.

"St Patrick’s Day has always been the day for the Irish in Australia. On 17 March 1795 there were rowdy festivities among the Irish convicts, and the cells were filled with prisoners. Later the occasion gained in respectability, marked by formal dinners attended by the colonial elite, many with no Irish connections." Source; www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/not-just-ned/about/about/st-pa...