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Developed as a naval patrol aircraft, the Consolidated PBY Catalina was a widely exported flying boat during World War II. Over the course of the conflict, it served a number of different nations in a variety of roles. In the Royal Australian Air Force, PBYs and PB2Bs (a variant built by Boeing in Canada) served as multi-role bombers and scouts, the type eventually earning great renown among Australian aircrews.[2][3][4][5][6] The motto of the Catalina squadrons was "The First and Furthest." Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_PBY_Catalina_in_Austra...

The WAAAF was the first military organisation in Australia for women which focused on skills other than tending the sick or injured. The establishment of the WAAAF paved the way for similar organisations in Navy and Army. Some women joined the WAAAF because they saw it as their patriotic duty, others to see the world and some to escape the social confines of life at home with the men away. Critics viewed the new organisation as a radical move and at least one national leader, the Minister for Defence, Harold C. Thorby, (right) opposed it. 'Aviation takes women out of their natural environment, the home and the training of the family,' he said. These fabric workers knew to an inch the amount of material required to cover their aircraft. It's no exaggeration to say that military life came as shock to some women: they had trouble adjusting. The WAAAF was designed and run as an efficient military organisation. In all areas, except pay and entitlements, women were treated the same as men in the Royal Australian Air Force. Pay and conditions were vastly different to men, women were only paid a percentage of the equivalent male wage and married women were not allowed to remain in the WAAAF. Source: www.radschool.org.au/magazines/Vol75/Page15.htm

The Rocklea Munitions Works was built in the early 1940s and, according to Brisbane City Council's heritage listing for the site, were some of the "most northerly munitions works constructed in Australia during the Second World War". It was one of the largest construction projects undertaken in Queensland during the war and became increasingly vital to the war effort as the fighting moved to Papua and New Guinea. Due to its importance to the war effort and risk of being targeted, the property had air raid shelters for factory workers, which remain on site. The machining shop in the factory produced cartridge cases for 25-pounder ammunition during the war. Source: www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-08/salisbury-rocklea-munition...

The first 27 female conductors started work on the trams and buses in October 1942. By June 1943 there 619 employed in Sydney and 97 in Newcastle. TRAINING WOMEN FOR TRAM WORK Assistant conductresses who will soon appear on Melbourne trams and buses will commence practical training at Hawthorn depot next week. They will be instructed in the arts of boarding movlng trams, maintaining balance in swaying carriages, punching of tickets and necessary clerical work. All assistant conductresses will be wives of tramway men who are at present overseas. Should the experiment succeed the board may decide to greatly expand the role of women assistants to meet staffing difficulties. OPINION POLL Majority In Favour Of Women Conductors Employment of women conductors on trams and buses is strongly approved throughout Australia, according to a Gallup Poll taken in June. War-time employment of women on jobs ordinarily done by men is one of the questions of the hour. In its first poll, taken last September, Australian Public Opinion Polls (The Gallup Method) found that two out of three people with opinions on the subject favoured equal pay for men and women doing the same work. Source: busaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52592