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Page 32 text:
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whom they thought gone, were returning once again. The Matsonia, which we had last seen at Pearl, had taken home most of the remaining American Navy in Australia just before we arrived. Most of us went Hrst to the Red Cross on Adelaide Street. It offered an ideal place to stop and unscramble our minds after trading our dollars for pounds, shillings, and pence at the money exchange there. The sandwich shop in the basement turned out to be a favorite meeting place for all men going ashore. Brisbane appeared to be quite a large and well-populated city. We later found that because of the wish for small individual homes, it had one of the largest metropolitan areas of any city in the world, the city was bounded by a circle of about thirty miles in diameter. The American Army as well as theiRoya,l-, Air Force and Navy were present but we were the only American Navy. Naturally, we felt this made us top dogs and that the girls enjoyed our presence most. On further thought we rather suspect it a reflection of the belief that Americans have a little more money to throw around than the other fellow. Perhaps the Aussie servicemen were not quite as enthused as we were, and a few brushes were unavoidably mixed in with all the good times we had. Judging from a few conversations heard around the ship, most of the Aussies that fought side by side with Yanks thought quite a bit of them in the field. fEd. note - of battlej. r It was always easy to talk with and to learn a little about the Aussies and their country. We spoke the same language, if one ruled out a few dinleums, all that sort of thing, and other similar slang. They were greatly interested in us and our no longer far-away America, and knew much more about us than we about them. Our movies, armed forces, and radio, though presenting at times a little distorted picture of Americans as cowboys, playboys, or bandleaders, certainly were an indication of our ways of living. We found that while Australia and the United States are of approximately the same size, the land down under had only seven million inhabitants, concentrated in three or four major cities, one of which is Brisbane. Despite similar pioneer backgrounds, Australia had not developed industrially at the same rate as our own country, and this has effected not only its economic structure, but also its ways of living. For instance, items such as refrigerators, cars, and mass-produced clothing are not available to the middle-class levels to the same degree as in the United States. In Australia these things are considered luxuries and not sought after as furiously as in our country, perhaps this is because of the scarcity, but perhaps also the all-consuming, competitive drive - at times - of the American does not exist here. When this background is reflected in daily living, there exists a love of free- dom and independence equally as strong as the American's. The Nationalist struggles in Indonesia were the subject of much discussion at the time we were in Brisbane, and it appeared that there was even more widespread interest and comment on the problem here than there would be in a s'milar situation close to the States. The most interesting conclusion that could be drawn on such short acquaintance, was that while so much alike the Austral- ian and American think and feel differently on many points. The reactions of both peoples seem reasonable if all the background causes are considered critically. New York has its Daymon Runyon characters and Brisbane had a counterpart in Sammie, the taxi driver. He seemed to like the blooming Yanks and could always take us to exactly the type place We had in mind. The story got around that Sammie had worked so hard and long that he was now ready to go to New York to retire to a life of grandeur. No matter where he directed us in our wanderings around the city, we always seemed to pass Anzac Square a couple of times each liberty. Usually it was on the way to the City Hall for a dance that was held there nearly every night. The Aussie band always tried to imitate American swing music, and since we had heard nothing but canned jifve for quite a While, it sounded pretty good. The Australians say these dances were first started C197
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Page 31 text:
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Ti ,, 'Q' ill ' l J 6 5 7 ...pt 4-.aa -...W THEY'RE RIGHT SIDE UP AFTER ALL - Brisbane - . As we neared Moraton Bay, a long-oared whaleboat from a queer-looking station vessel fer- ried out to us our pilot, a rugged old salt. Qualified in both sail and steam, he told us of the full- rigged ship he had taken out not many days before. Soon we were proceeding up the bay towards the entrance of the Brisbane River. For the first time in many months, high-flowered hills re- W i placed the palm-studded islands Brisbane River - Just and jagged lava peaks to which Above Bulimba Fen we had become accustomed. yi From the decks, we could see the Glass House Mountains and the vacation town of Caloundra. As we approached the entrance of the river, a small motor launch with a holiday crowd aboard come out as if to meet us, then turned up the bay. The river narrowed until at times we seemed to fill the channel entirely. Such a huge black hull must have been a strange sight to the people on the banks. We were surprised and no little pleased at our reception, being used to quiet and uneventful entries. People waved from the houses on the heights and even from the trams running along the river road. One happy old chap staggered out of a pub and started signalling semaphore with the aid of two bar rags. The pilot was to berth us at Mercantile Wharf, which was up the river near the heart of the city. As tugs were not available, mooring presented a neat problem in this swift, narrow river. But we dropped our anchor, turned completely around on it, and with the help of our small boats, were soon tied up. As usual aboard ship there was a heavy epi- demic of liberty fever which spread rapidly. Whites and blues were pulled from lockers and pressed back into shape, shoes were highly polished, and razors hacked away at beards. The shore patrol for the day was designated and the first liberty party shoved off. Everyone was in high spirits in anticipation of one liberty in a well-developed English- speaking country, our first in many months. The open-air tram ground to a stop at the Bulimba Ferry Terminus, the street just for- ward of the ship, and everybody crammed himself aboard, bringing to the startled, easy- going Aussies another touch of America and the Manhattan Subways. As the jammed swabbie-laden trolley, rolled into town, the citizens were a bit amazed to find the Yanks, C137
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Page 33 text:
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