Members of the Australian Women’s Land Army picking up fleeces after the sheep are shorn in a country shearing shed. Miss Betty McKibbon is in the foreground. 25 September 1942.

A display of Owen sub-machine-guns, designed and manufactured in Australia, being transported on a truck in a procession through the streets of Sydney to show the immensity of the war effort in Australian munitions factories. The tanks, guns, fighting vehicles and lorries carrying products of Australian munitions workers numbered nearly 400 and took an hour to pass a given point. Sydney, New South Wales. 12 December 1942.

The Australian Owen gun could be fired from either the shoulder or the hip, and became renowned for the punishment it could take in battle. It was relatively easy to maintain, and could be immersed in water and mud and then still be fired. It was also relatively light – an important point when carried over long distances in jungle warfare.

Every pair of socks which comes to the Headquarters of the Australian Comforts Fund was thoroughly examined to ensure there were no lumps or other faults. Voluntary experts are shown examining and stacking these socks from the various suburban branches of the Comforts Fund. (Left to right, seated) Mrs Dickson, Mrs Simms, Mrs A P Downes; (at back) Mrs Low, Mrs McCallum and Mrs Machin. Melbourne, Victoria.18 May 1943.

Sappers of the 15th Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers placing bearers into position on a new Austpanel bridge across the Puriata River on Bougainville in the Solomon Islands. This Australian-made bridge was being used in operations for the first time. 1 May 1945.

The keel plate for another vessel is laid a few minutes after the launching of HMAS Deloraine at Mort’s Dock, Balmain, New South Wales. Deloraine was one of 60 Australian minesweepers, or corvettes, constructed at different shipyards in Australia during the war.

Miners in the Mica mines at Strangways Ranges, about 70 kilometres from Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. 28 December 1942.

Mr Langsford in his ‘Austerity suit’ and one of his assistants wearing a costume made of leftovers from suit lengths. 14 September 1942.

Members of the Chinese Labour Corps stacking timber that had been unloaded from pontoons towed several kilometres to the beach from ships anchored off-shore. Potshot, Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia. 28 April 1943.

Miss Winifred Yates, an employee of the Commonwealth Clothing Factory stitching gold bullion braid on naval uniforms. Melbourne, Victoria. 10 August 1943.

‘Wasps’, members of the Women’s Agricultural Security Production Service, cutting and carrying bananas. Not a usual job for the average women in normal circumstances at that time but since there was no other labour available the Wasps did the work. 4 August 1943.

Bristol Beaufort torpedo-bombers being built for the RAAF. Sections of the machines were made at widely separated factories and assembled in central plants. Factories and annexes producing Beauforts specialised in particular sections of the aircraft. These were supplied to the main assembly plants where entire bombers were constructed. The front fuselages and stern frames were crated for delivery to a main assembly plant.

Tropical butterfat spread developed by Australian scientists made it possible to supply fresh butter to Allied troops in tropical operational areas. The butter would not melt until the temperature is 105 degrees fahrenheit (40.5 degrees Celsius). Here the cans were being filled with tropical butterfat spread at the Australian factory where it was made.

The ‘Dollimore’ anti-aircraft training sight invented by Brigadier V G Dollimore, 54th Anti-Aircraft Regiment, and accepted by the Army inventions directorate. The shadow of the sight was set at an aircraft speed of 400 miles per hour (643 kilometres per hour) with a 90 degree angle of approach. Sydney, NSW. 13 November 1944.

Captain Jane Clement, Women’s Army Corps, US Army, examines women’s underwear (‘scanties’) in an Australian clothing factory. The underwear was being modelled by Marie Hillard who was wearing a slip (petticoat) as made for American nurses. Circa 1943.

The army established its own slaughter yards, cooling chambers and delivery system about 15 kilometres north of Katherine, Northern Territory to provide fresh meat for Allied soldiers in the north-west area. Butchers already in the army were able to resume their civil occupation, on army pay, and use was made of Aboriginal labour to bring the cattle to the slaughter yards from widely dispersed areas. 1 February 1943.

Tradesmen using electric welders cutting guide pins from a steel plate before the riveters fasten it to the hull of a Tribal class destroyer at Cockatoo Naval Dockyard. Garden Island, Sydney. October 1943.

The interior of the Country Women’s Association (CWA) netting workshops at 316 Flinders Lane in Melbourne. This was the central depot for all the voluntary camouflage netting operations that were being carried out throughout Victoria by the CWA. Mr FJH Hart is in the foreground. 12 May 1943.

An Australian AC1 Sentinel Cruiser Mk l tank negotiating a gully during manoeuvres. The Sentinel was designed and built in Australia, with plans for mass production to equip Australian armoured units, however the army secured proven designs from the United States and Great Britain instead.

Miss Desley George (left) and Miss Kay Sharkey, members of the Australian Women’s Land Army picking apples in an orchard. Doncaster, Victoria, 1 June 1942.

Members of the Allied Works Council erecting huts for the New South Wales Lines of Communication Area demobilisation centre in Moore Park, Sydney. 14 September 1945.

A worker turning a six-inch shell at the Commonwealth Government Ordnance Factory, Maribyrnong, Victoria. 19 October 1939.

Four local bank tellers assisting local farmers during harvest time relax during a tea break. These voluntary workers received two shillings and four pence per hour award rates under the wartime rural aid scheme.

(Left to right, front)-: Mr A G Henderson, Mr R C Milledge and Mr E Ronaldson; (rear) Mr P Moorman. Wangaratta, Victoria. 15 December 1943.

Penicillin drying on the ‘Sow’s Belly’ during its manufacturing process at the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories at Royal Park, Melbourne. Miss R Crosby seals ampoules under vacuum assisted by Mr C W Mullins. 8 January 1945.

A member of the Australian Women’s Land Army practises milking technique on a dummy cow made of papier mache at the organisation’s training farm. Darley, Victoria. 6 September 1944.

Trucks being carefully checked after leaving the assembly line at Ford Motor Works, Geelong, Victoria. 11 December 1940.

Italian prisoners of war from No 15 POW Camp grading and packing tomatoes at the packing shed before sending them to the Leeton Co-Operative Cannery for processing. Yanco, New South Wales. 29 January 1944.

Mr M Dick, a former AIF instructor, serving behind the counter at a men’s store using the cineplastic hand fitted at the Facio Maxillary and Plastic Surgery Unit, 115th Australian General Hospital at Heidelberg, Melbourne, Victoria. 4 January 1945.

Two members of the Australian Women’s Land Army driving an operating header. Miss Enid Gorman drives the team and Miss Ethel Hall, operates and supervises the filling of the bags. 2 June 1943.

The unfinished interior of Cairncross Graving Dock in Brisbane, Queensland taken from the Coffer Dam and showing the dock gate under construction in the middle distance. The graving dock was used for maintenance on Allied warships and merchant ships. Brisbane, Qld. Circa 1942.

Mr C Lehman and his daughters Audrey (centre) and Jean harvesting onions on the family farm in Victoria. 1 October 1943.

Miss Sheila McLeod, Miss Howgate and Miss Clare Broadhurst, voluntary workers digging a new vegetable plot in the Victory Garden established in the grounds of Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) House, 21 Georges Road, Toorak. Toorak House was a property lent by Mrs W G Spowers in 1942 to provide hostel accommodation for fifty WAAAF airwomen. Melbourne, Victoria. 3 December 1942.

Private Mervyn Boyle, 47th Battalion, sitting before Sergeant Powell as she paints an artificial eye to match his good eye. The artificial eye was fitted into the socket to compare with the good eye at the 2/1st Australian Facio Maxillary and Plastic Surgery Unit at the 113th Australian General Hospital (Yaralla Hospital, now known as Concord Hospital). Concord, New South Wales. 15 March 1946.

Female munitions workers heating the barrel of a 3.7-inch anti-aircraft gun in preparation for the straightening process. Bendigo, Victoria. 21 April 1943.

One of the many women employed in the production of military tents at work on a sewing machine at the Woodville General Motors Holden motor bodybuilding plant. Adelaide, South Australia.

Aborigines attached to the 4th Army Troop Company, Royal Australian Engineers. The men can be seen working a winch to haul material up a hill to be used in the construction of a 20,000-gallon water tank. Alice Springs, Northern Territory, 17 December 1942.

Employees at the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation factory move a partly constructed Wirraway to a more advanced position in the assembly line. 2 February 1940. Fishermen’s Bend, Victoria.