Overview

As World War II climbed to its crescendo in the Asia-Pacific, the Australian government called in a new weapon: women. Within this female arsenal was a top-secret group focused on signals intelligence. These young women, many just teens, were soon dotted across Australia, working in discreet locations – from an outback bunker disguised as a farmhouse to a Melbourne apartment block, from the garage of a Brisbane manor to a Perth girls’ school. As war inched closer to home, they became our secret weapon, intercepting enemy messages and passing intelligence between local networks and allies across the globe, from Bletchley Park to the United States, India and across the Asia-Pacific. Some information was so sensitive it was burned to ensure its security. Their covert work helped the Allies win the pivotal battles of the Coral Sea and Midway, and plot the assassination of the Japanese commander behind the Pearl Harbour bombings. When the war ended, the women rejoiced. Demobilised and reminded of their oaths of secrecy, they returned to civilian lives. Some followed careers, others married and raised families. Their service remained hidden – until recently. This is not just an extraordinary war story, but a coming-of-age tale for the nation and its women. It brings to life a new Anzac, neither male nor bloodied from battle. These were the daughters of the suffragette generation – of course they were destined to do something out of the ordinary. It is time to write these remarkable women back into our history, where they belong.

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9781923192416

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Reviews

'A fascinating read about the women at the heart of Australia's covert war operation. These women, who kept silent for 40 years about the undercover operations that helped change the course of WW2, should be honoured and their work known. It's time their part in Australia's top secret wartime operation is properly told.' -- Lisa Millar 'When the Second World War erupted in 1939, Australia’s women declared that rather than stand behind their men, they wanted to stand with them. Diana Thorp’s lively account of the women entrusted with transmitting and keeping Australia’s war secrets deftly blends national and personal histories to tell their extraordinary stories.' -- Michelle Arrow

Author Information

Diana Thorp has scaled a pyramid, excavated a Bronze Age palace and been threatened by a deadly war spy. She also wrote a thesis on forgotten women that almost included a sealed section, all in pursuit of a good story. A journalist, historian and teacher, Diana has worked for The Australian, including its weekend magazine, and The Times in London. She has an honours degree in History from Monash University, where she specialised in Egyptian history. After lecturing in journalism for many years, her passion for history inspired her to become a history teacher, and she now teaches at a girls’ school in Melbourne. Her work appears widely in Australia and beyond, and her feature article on Australian World War II spy Nancy Wake, whose wartime story was then little known, inspired this book.

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