In the Australian Women’s Weekly published on 29 March
1941, reporter Adele (Tilly) Shelton Smith excitedly told her readers she had
been given the most thrilling assignment of all her years in newspaper work.
She and photographer Wilfred (Bill) Brindle had been sent to Singapore and
Malaya as “Special Correspondents”. She wrote that she was going to see the
A.I.F. training and find out what the women back home wanted to know most… what
the camps were like, the accommodation, the food, the recreation time and what
the troops do on leave. She looked forward to seeing the familiar slouch hat
and khaki against a background of native colour. In particular she wanted to
send a first-hand account to the women of what their husbands and sons were
doing to “preserve the common ideals of which that (pre-war) friendliness is
the outward sign”.
Adele Shelton Smith’s first 'Women’s Weekly' article from Malaya (on 5
April 1941) was headlined “Gee it’s good to see someone from home”. She had
spent a weekend at a “colourful coastal town” and had met troops swimming in a
millionaire’s pool, singing and dancing with the taxi-girls at a cabaret and
sightseeing. They had been invited to the homes of several Chinese hosts. She
also went sightseeing and saw the troops “out in droves with their cameras” and
holding rickshaw races, followed by admiring children calling “Hello Jo” to all
the Aussie troops.
The second posting from Malaya was published in the
'Women's Weekly' on 12 April 1941, Easter Saturday. She had lunched with
Major-General Gordon Bennett, commander of the 8th Division, in the bungalow he
shared with senior officers. He assured her that the troops were behaving very
well, in fact better than when at home. Mail was arriving regularly but
newspapers from home were needed. Showing some of the prevailing attitudes of
the time she reported that ex-patriot white women were running a club for the
troops, providing food, cool drinks and a place to chat about home. The troops
were training hard and on their return to camp were able to have showers behind
nipah palm shelters. They slept on their stretchers on the school verandahs
with sheets changed weekly and mosquito nets to keep out the small lizards.
‘Smithy’ reported that the boys were becoming naturalists and told her about
the beautiful orchids and huge snails and scorpions. There were monkeys, orang-utans,
panthers, tigers to see… and avoid. The country was criss-crossed with drainage
ditches. The officers held a cocktail party, complete with band, for European
guests to try to repay some of the hospitality they had received.
The same magazine had a photograph of a soldier
becoming acquainted with a “Dutch wife”, a long bolster used to absorb
perspiration when sleeping. A third page of information told the womenfolk that
the Australians were known as the “tid apa” boys, very appropriate as “tid apa”
means “why bother” or “why worry”. The local rickshaw boys were making a
fortune with the frequent rickshaw races, just as often with the owner getting
a ride whilst he was pulled along by the troops. They also had an open
invitation to the beachside home of a Chinese business man and were able to
swim in his pool and have races along the beach. Smithy’s message to the
womenfolk back home was “Don’t worry. They are as happy as sand-boys!” and from
the many accompanying photographs of them dancing and singing, swimming and
climbing trees, rickshaw racing and bargaining for purchases, the troops were
having a lot of fun. There was no mention of their hard work or training.
In the third 'Woman’s Weekly' article, published on 19
April 1941, Adele Shelton Smith finally had some photographs of the troops in
uniform and training hard, but no details were given for censorship and
security reasons. In her article she reported on a sumptuous Singalese meal
given by a wealthy Indian businessman in honour of the troops. Several
different kinds of curry were served as well as chutney, pickles and fruit. The
local Malay Police band was in attendance and the Aussies sang ‘Advance
Australia Fair’ with great gusto. She also reported on the social life in Singapore
itself, advising that no night club was permitted to stay open after midnight
and the strict rules about evening dress had been relaxed to only one formal
dress night in the week at Raffles. She advised that there were more men than
women in each party so the girls were treated like “pampered princesses
surrounded by courtiers”. Imagine how that was
received by the womenfolk struggling alone back home!
In her fourth Women’s Weekly article of 26 May 1941,
Adele Shelton Smith reported on the more hum-drum aspects of life in the
tropics. The headline was ‘Tip-Top Tucker in the Tropics’ and she reported that
the Army seemed to have the same formula as every woman – ‘feed the brute’. The
men didn’t like the sweet flavour of the local bread, so they now had an
Australian bakery. There had been Hot Cross Buns for Easter. Bacon was from
Queensland, meat from Argentina, potatoes, carrots and turnips from England,
butter and frozen meat from Australia and jams and tinned fruit from Canada and
Australia. Fresh vegetables were hard to obtain locally and the Army cooks had
to become familiar with them and learn the best method of cooking. Indian and
Chinese dhobis were contracted to wash 30 pieces of laundry per week per man,
the dirt literally being thrashed out of the clothes by bashing them onto
stones.
The fifth and final article written by Adele Shelton
Smith was published in the Australian Women’s Weekly on 3 May 1941. She wrote
of the Australian nurses who told her the locals treated them like film stars,
giving them orchids and fruit and plenty of invitations to social and sporting
events. She said the girls all looked well in their crisp, grey uniforms and
red capes. The quarters were plain but comfortable, some rooms with beautiful
views. The girls had plenty of family photographs on display. All rooms
contained the nurses’ battledress with tin hats and respirators as compulsory
equipment.
