Born in 1944? What else happened? 2025 Edition

What else happened?

By: Ron Williams, TBD

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Paperback | 7 November 2018 | Edition Number 4

At a Glance

Paperback
196 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
21 x 14.5 x 1.5

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This is the fourth of the 1940s and the fifth book overall to be released in a series of 32 about life in Australia – one for each year from 1939 to 1970. They describe happenings that affected people, real people. The whole series, to coin a modern phrase, is designed to push your buttons, to make you remember and wonder at things forgotten. The books might just let nostalgia see the light of day, so that oldies and youngies will talk about the past and re-discover a heritage otherwise forgotten.

Hopefully, they will spark discussions between generations, and foster the asking and answering of questions that should not remain unanswered. In 1944, the Japs in the Pacific and the Nazis in Europe was just about beaten. In Oz the Labour Government delighted in having great war-time powers, and wanted to extend them. It took a referendum to cool them down.

Sydney was invaded by rats, and there were lots of Yankee soldiers in all our cities, and a few of them were not hated. Young girls were being corrupted by the Yanks and by war-time freedom, and clergy were generous with their advice to them. Germany was invaded, but that did not stop the Doodlebugs dropping on London.

About the Author

Ron Williams is a retired teacher, mathematician, computer-man, political scientist, farmer and writer. He has a BA from the University of Sydney, and a Masters in Social Work and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Hawaii. He writes: “I was born in 1934, so that I can remember well a great deal of what went on around me from 1939 onwards. But of course, the bulk of this book’s material came from research. That meant that I spent many hours in front of a computer reading electronic versions of newspapers, magazines, Hansard, Ministers’ Press releases and the like. My task was to sift out, day-by-day, those stories and events that would be of interest to the most readers.

Industry Reviews

COMMENTS FROM READERS

Tom Lynch, Speers Point…..Some history writers make the mistake of trying to boost their authority by including graphs and charts all over the place. You on the other hand get a much better effect by saying things like “he made a pile”. Or “every one worked hours longer that they should have, and felt like death warmed up at the end of the shift.” I have seen other writers waste two pages of statistics painting the same picture as you did in a few words….

Barry Marr, Adelaide….you know that I am being facetious when I say that I wish the war had gone on for years longer so that you would have written more books about it…

Edna College, Auburn…. A few times I stopped and sobbed as you brought memories of the postman delivering letters, and the dread that ordinary people felt as he neared. How you captured those feelings yet kept your coverage from becoming maudlin or bogged down is a wonder to me….

Betty Kelly. Every time you seem to be getting serious you throw in a phrase or memory that lightens up the mood. In particular, in the war when you were describing the terrible carnage of Russian troops, for no reason, you ended with a ten line description of how aggrieved you felt and ended it with “apart from that, things are pretty good here”. For me, it turned the unbearable into the bearable, and I went from feeling morbid and angry back to a normal human being….

Alan Davey, Brisbane….I particularly liked the light-hearted way you described the scenes at the airports as the American high-flying entertainers flew in. I had always seen the crowd behaviour as disgraceful, but your light-hearted description of it made me realise it was in fact harmless and just good fun….

Finally, let me apologise in advance to anyone I might offend. In a work such as this, with so many painful memories all round, it is certain some people will think I got some things wrong. I am certain I did, but please remember, all of this is only my opinion. And really, my opinion does not matter one little bit in the scheme of things. I hope you will say “silly old bugger”, and shrug your shoulders and read on.

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