The A.I.F.= The Australian Imperial Force and this newspaper was supplied free to the troops of the Australian Army Canteens Service. This issue is dated Saturday 22nd December 1941. It includes advertisments for businesses in Cairo and Alexandria; Egypt, Palestine and Syria. Page 2 includes a poem titled "This Holy Night" by Pte C.M. Walker; two sonnets by Rupert Brooke; a poem, "Waiting Dreams" by Pilot Officer J.A. Henderson RAAF and a poem by Lieut. David McNicoll AIF Abroad Air Mail - Palestine. Page 3 includes a message from General Sir Thomas Blamey, an article on the part women would increasingly play as a consequence of the emergency war policy; an advertisment for tobacco specially packed for overseas forces. Page 4 includes an article on Australian coastal cities being ready for raids. Page 5 includes an article about the Commonwealth of the Philippines and their defense which until 1946 lay with America. General D Macarthur was the Commander In Chief in the Philippines. Germany's "secret Weapon" legend. Page 6 includes "Dancing Dan's Christmas"; "Bluey and Curley" comic strip. Page 7 includes article "Rommel's Armoured Might Lies Strewn Over Libyan Sands" Page 8 includes an article: "All In Fun" - a revue - has begun a tour of Australian camps in Palestine and Syria. Page 9 includes articles "War Will Revolutionise Air Services In Australia"; a list - Greek Awards To AIF Officers and a cartoon by George Aria titled 'Jonah '. Pages 10&11 "Christmas 1941" - messages from prominent people: Mr Winston Churchill; The Govenor General (Lord Gorrie); The Prime Minister (Mr Curtin); Mininster for the Army (Mr Forde). Also photos of army operations and traditional family Christmas time. Page 12 &13 Articles regarding sport under the heading 'Australian Sporting Digest'. Page 14 A story - "The Gift of the Magi" - an O Henry Christmas Story. Also a greeting from Myer's of Melbourne and Adelaide to all Myer Men in the AIF Page 15 An article where General Blamey reassures Australia about its capability of defence. Page 16 A description of a battle by Australian sloop "Parramatta" with HMAS "Auckland" against enemy planes whilst they were escorting a merchant ship with a cargo of petrol during the Battle of Tobruk Page 17 & 18 Pages under the title 'ACK-I-FOOFS' (Articles submitted by soldiers: The real Rat of Tobruk - a rat trained by L/Cpl Jack Kneeshaw which he named "Goebbels"; poems and cartoons. Page 19 "Women of War" - photos of women at work filling in for men who have gone to war. Page 20 Xmas Greetings 1942-1942 - a 1942 Calendar signed by 14 members of the AIF, some with messages and including their Army Number. Twenty pages of news supplied free to the troops by the Australian Army Canteens Service.The last page is a calendar for 1942 with personal inscriptions and greetings of servicemen. Some inscriptions have I.D. Numbers ( VX35435 W. Johnston; QX20753 of Carmody ; VX40449 ; VX39637 N. Powell; VX32054 Blue Ernistson?; N?X23234 W.Cummins; VXthe a.i.f. news christmas edition 1941, australian imperial force, world war 2, australian army canteens service, general blamey, world war 2 - pacific war, world war 2 - phillipine islands, general d macarthur, emergency plans ww2 australia, secret weapons ww2, western desert ww2, australian imperial force - western desert ww2, civil aviation post ww2, air services australia, lord gowrie, governor general lord gowrie, prime minister john curtain, minister for the army - mr forde, cartoons 1941, women-in ww2, xmas greetings calendar 1941-1942, cairo 1941, palestine 1941, western desert 1941, advertisements 1941, middle east 1941

Photos shows a Melbourne, MMTB, double-deck bus painted in an all-over livery for the Buy Bonds Let's fill the 3rd Liberty Loan - World War 2 campaign. Has images of Winston Churchill and Australian Prime Minister John Curtain on the side of the bus. The bus is a Leyland TD5c type. In the background is a bus with a James Motors 1925 body, which were remounted on K6 International chassis in 1942 - 1943. Photographed at North Fitzroy Depot. These buses were used to replace the cable trams in Bourke St from October 1940. John Curtain became Prime Minister on 7 October 1941 and died on 5 July 1945. The paint shop record for buses (See Reg Item 126) gives the bus number 220, that it was painted from the 2nd to the 3rd Victory Loan in Jan. 1945 and then painted to green and cream in 8/1945.Yields information about a bus decorated or painted to promote the 3rd World War loan.Set of two photographs of a MMTB double decker bus advertising Buy the World War 2, 3rd Liberty Loan.tramways, buses, mmtb, double deck buses, john curtain, winston churchill, north fitzroy bus depot, world war 2, war loans, leyland, td5c class, central bus garage, bus 220

Betty Duval (now Cornford) decided to sign up with Australia's Defence Forces in February 1941 to have an adventure. Four weeks later she was off to Victoria Dock with all the nurses to head overseas, destination unknown. Betty was onboard the RMS Mauretania, one of the convoy with the HMS Hobart, HM Queen Mary, RMS Aquitania, and SS New (Nieuw) Amsterdam, and a naval escort ship. Soon after leaving Perth the Queen Mary split off for Malaya. Of the sixty-five nursing sisters on board, only twenty-four would ever return to Australia alive. Betty and the RMS Mauretania arrived in Bombay. During the next fourteen months the nurses of the 2/9th Australian General Hospital (AGH) manned hospitals in Palestine and Egypt, depending entirely on the war and troop movements. Early 1942 saw Prime Minister John Curtain order the 6th and 7th Australian divisions withdraw from the Middle East. Betty boarded the [SS Strathallan], again with destination unknown. Arriving home in Melbourne saw Betty move on to nursing in Adelaide until her unit was to be sent to New Guinea for fifteen months. In 1945 Betty was discharged from the Army and married her sweetheart Doug.A black and white photocopy of a large magazine clipping, consisting of a title, two large photos and six columns of text. Both photos are of the same woman, the smaller one shows her as a young woman in nurse's uniform, the larger shows her present day, as an older woman, looking at photo albums.wwii, ww2, world war 2, world war two, victoria, victoria barracks, st kilda rd, epworth hospital, pows, prisoners of war, vyner brooke, japanese, banka island, taj mahal hotel, nazareth, tobruk, derna, english, america, strathalen, columba, singapore, british, darwin, 10th agh, spencer st station, victorian villa, doug cornford, moratai