On Gallant Wings is nearly here and I am getting very excited! One of the many interesting aspects of the book is the use of letters between main character Ava and her older brother Fred, her dad, and her best friend Kazuo. These are scattered throughout the book and written in cursive, to show the different types of handwriting from the 1940s and some of the frustrations in reading each other’s letters!
Added to this frustration for people at the time was the censorship of letters. Strict censorship was imposed in Australia at the start of World War II. The Menzies Government formed the Department of Information (DOI) to control media, publicity and letters between people. It was believed censorship was necessary to prevent valuable information falling into enemy hands and to maintain high morale at home. Where deemed necessary sections of letters were either blacked out, or had pieces cut from them, as determined by the censors.
As part of the lead-up to the release of On Gallant Wings, I will be sharing the full letters on my blog over the coming weeks. They are also available as part of the Teaching Notes for use in classrooms, for example, to contrast and compare the experience of reading the full letters, versus the censored ones, as a way to introduce the idea of cursive and creating your own letters in this way, and to examine what it must have been like to have only letters as a way of communicating with loved ones, especially when parts of them were missing, with no control over what came through to you.
Here are the first two letters, from Ava’s dad to her, and one back from Ava to him.
10th December 1941 No. 460 Squadron Dear Ava I’m sorry it’s taken me a while to write back. It’s been very busy here. How are you feeling about Fred going away? No matter what, I know you’ll be okay because you’re strong and capable. You remind me a lot of your Mum.
Not long now until Christmas and your birthday. I can’t believe you’ll be turning 13! I’m sorry I won’t be there to share it with you. Hopefully by your next birthday, the war will be over and I’ll be home. Things are going all right here. I’ve made some mates in the squadron and there’s a lot of camaraderie between the Aussies and the Brits. We’ve even had a few games of cricket— we’re the better team of course. I made 84 on my last inning!
I’ve been navigator in a few different types of planes now. We’re not allowed to give you details, in case the enemy reads our letters, but I can tell you that in the bigger one, it’s noisy and cramped and a bit like being inside the Sydney Harbour Bridge! It’s very cold here in England, which seems strange after the heat of Darwin, especially at this time of year. The nights are longer than the days too. They reckon we’ll have a bit of a lunch for Christmas, and perhaps even some singing. But I’ll miss you all.
Have a celebration for me, make sure you do, because it will make me happy to know you are safe and enjoying Christmas and your very special birthday. I look forward to your next letter. Remember our deal—to take nothing for granted and be grateful for everything we have, especially each other. Love, Dad PS. Your mum told me what an excellent job you’ve been doing with the pigeons! Thank you for looking after them so well
22nd December 1941, Darwin Dear Dad Thanks for your letter and your good wishes. We aren’t doing anything much for my birthday, but Fred will have leave for Christmas day, so at least he’ll be with us for lunch. I think your mate Mick is coming too—I can’t wait to show him Essie—as well as Mum’s friend Barb from the CWA. Mick’s in the army now, so I don’t know what will happen to his pigeons when he goes away. Fred seems excited about joining the army. Mum isn’t happy about it though. I don’t know what to think.
Since your last letter, I have been imagining you in your uniform, making sure the pilot knows which direction to fly in. What’s it like looking out over the world from up there?
Even though we’re in different Hemispheres, I feel like the nights are longer than the days here too—isn’t that strange? I guess it’s probably cause I miss you and Fred the most at night. The house seems sadder too, as if it’s waiting for someone to walk in the door, but they never do—the darkness makes that worse. I often think of you when I can’t sleep.
I hope you like the drawing of Essie, and the photo of her first flight. Mum let me take two photos so I could send one to you. She also made a Christmas pudding which should arrive with this letter. She said they keep for ages. Maybe you can share it with some of your mates. When you left, Fred took over some of your jobs at home, like you told him to. He still does what he can on his days off, but mostly me and Mum do everything now. There was a snake in the loo last night, and I screamed, and Mum came running and screamed too! Luckily it slithered away, probably because of all that screaming … Fred would’ve dealt with that snake faster than a spinning wheel on Cracker Night!
Mum says it’s up to us to keep everything running smoothly and that we might as well just get used to it. We’re managing, but it’s lonely with you, Fred and Kazuo all gone. I don’t want to get used to it, Dad, I just want things to go back to the way they were. I worry about you and Fred, and also about Kazuo and his family, locked up in Adelaide River in those holding camps. Everyone seems more and more angry at the Japanese people who live here. I don’t understand why they don’t understand that Kazuo and his family and others like them, had nothing to do with what happened at Pearl Harbor. They’re just as horrified about it as we are.
I’ve stopped trying to argue about it though. Mum says it isn’t worth it. I think it probably would be, if I could just get them to stop and think about what they are doing, or get them to imagine how they would feel if it was their family being sent to a holding camp. There are hardly any women and children left in Darwin now, just nurses or telephonists like Mum, and other women who are essential services. I sometimes bump into a few of their kids, but they definitely aren’t my friends, especially Billy Jackson. His mum works at the hospital. I wish he hadn’t stayed, so I didn’t have to keep dodging him. Sometimes he hangs around the wharf, but he is always on his own. It almost makes me feel sorry for him. Almost.
Sometimes I climb the big Moreton Bay Fig tree on the vacant block, make my way up through its thick twisted arms and pretend I can see all the way to you on the other side of the world. Mostly, I read, especially Winnie the Pooh. You know that’s my absolute favourite book. Remember how you used to read it to me all the time? Every time I read it I think of you. I also help Mum around the house—and look after the pigeons, of course. I spend a lot of time waiting for letters from you, and Fred and Kazuo. At least I have the pigeons for company, especially Essie. She’s smart and fast. I’ve been training her to fly a bit further from the loft and she’s making progress. You’d love her. I wish you could come home for Christmas. Stay safe up there. Love, Ava xxx
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