The secret wartime diaries of a young woman are giving new insight into life in Brisbane in the 1940s, describing the day peace was declared and the city’s busy social scene with American troops in town.
University of Queensland associate professor of history Geoff Ginn found the diaries, which uncover the personal account of a young woman likely in her early 20s known only as Daphne, at a local market.
“She’s talking about a lot of social activities she’s doing, she’s going to parties, she’s going to nightclubs, she’s going to dances,” Ginn said.
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“The person who owned the market, the person who was running the stall, had no idea where it had come from.”
The diary entries also detail Daphne’s day trips to Brookfield and Redcliffe, often with “an American soldier on her arm”.
“It really is the inner voice of a young woman trying to work out who is the one for her,” Ginn said.
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“There’s quite a lot of Americans in Brisbane at the time and there’s a number of them she has dances with.”
In one entry, Daphne described her experience in Brisbane the day victory was announced.
“Peace was declared this morning at 10am. Got a holiday the rest of day,” the diary entry said.
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Another entry described the moment her photo was taken on that momentous day and how the image ended up in the newspaper.
“We rode around on Col. Luke’s truck till about 2pm. Got photos in the paper,” it said.
The diaries have since been handed to the State Library of Queensland and transcribed for anyone to read online.
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But nobody knows the exact identity of the woman.
“There were lots of jazz clubs and venues that opened up,” State Library of Queensland lead coordinator Robyn Hamilton said.
“After the war, when the Americans left, Brisbane did quieten back down again and so those clubs closed up.
“We’d love to know who she was but it might remain a mystery.”
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