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Authors: Lucia Masciullo
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people that, because of the risk of the Japanese bombing the city, women and children might be evacuated. This note also said that: âAny pets owned by Evacuees should be destroyed before the Evacuation.â
The next day there was an official notice from the War Cabinet in the newspaper, ordering the evacuations to begin. Once this happened, people didnât have a choice â they had to leave, like it or not, and some families were given less than an hour to pack once it was their turn to go. The newspaper notice said:
âDarwin citizens will greatly assist the war effort by cheerfully carrying out all requests. There will be hardship and sacrifice, but the war situation demands these and I am sure Darwin will set the rest of Australia a magnificent example to follow.â
Nowadays, we know that these people were lucky to leave Darwin when they did, as the city was bombed just four days after the last evacuee ship left on 15 February, 1942. But at the time, leaving Darwin was a scary, uncomfortable and overwhelming thing to do. The ships were hot and often overcrowded, as there were also sick soldiers and Japanese prisoners of war on board. There wasnât enough to eat or drink, and people were frightened that enemy submarines were in the water.
In total, 1066 women and 900 children were evacuated from Darwin by sea. Many of them lost their fathers and husbands in the bombings, and some werenât able to return until six years later. They came back to find that Darwin was a very different place to the one they had left.
Building Trenches
These children are building a trench to shelter in during an air raid. If bombs were being dropped, hiding under ground level would protect people from all the flying debris caused by the blasts.
T he man who called out to her was standing in the shadows so Pearlie couldnât see who it was.
âPearlie,â the man said again. Thatâs when he stepped out into the light.
He had bright blue eyes that pierced her like daggers. His skin was pale and he wore a small, ginger-coloured moustache. And dangling from his bony fingers was her bracelet.
âIt canât be you,â she breathed. âIt canâtâ¯.â¯.â¯.â
âSo, you
are
the real Pearlie,â Beake said, walking towards her. âLittle girls shouldnât lie to grownups, you know. Thatâs when they get punished.â
Pearlie gasped. She wanted to run but it was as if her dress was made out of lead, her body felt so heavy. She couldnât go to Old Man Lizard and ask him for help. Not now, she thought. Heâs not strong enough to fight Beake. And I canât lead him to my darling animals. I have to lead him away. She told her legs to move and at last they obeyed.
Pearlie fled in the opposite direction, away from the hut, away from town and from safety.
âCome back, you little wretch!â she heard Beake yell.
Pearlie darted through the bush, one hand on Tintoâs pouch, making it even harder to run.
Behind her came the sound of Beakeâs shoes pounding the ground. With each step he seemed to be getting closer and closer. Pearlie was small, her legs were short and sheâd run such a long way already. Iâll never be able to outrun him, she thought.
Hereâs a sneak peek at Meet Grace
I T must be the longest day this winter, Grace thought, and all Iâve found are a few bits of coal and a piece of rope.
Grace waded towards the riverbank, wiggling her toes into the mud, feeling for anything that had washed in with the tide or fallen from a boat or barge to put in her kettle. That was her job as a mudlark â to search the bottom of the Thames for things to sell. She shivered.
A dirty fog hung over the water, draping everything in grey. The other mudlarks looked like shadows as they waded through the river. Grace felt the water cold against her legs â the tide was on its way in and her dress floated around
The next day there was an official notice from the War Cabinet in the newspaper, ordering the evacuations to begin. Once this happened, people didnât have a choice â they had to leave, like it or not, and some families were given less than an hour to pack once it was their turn to go. The newspaper notice said:
âDarwin citizens will greatly assist the war effort by cheerfully carrying out all requests. There will be hardship and sacrifice, but the war situation demands these and I am sure Darwin will set the rest of Australia a magnificent example to follow.â
Nowadays, we know that these people were lucky to leave Darwin when they did, as the city was bombed just four days after the last evacuee ship left on 15 February, 1942. But at the time, leaving Darwin was a scary, uncomfortable and overwhelming thing to do. The ships were hot and often overcrowded, as there were also sick soldiers and Japanese prisoners of war on board. There wasnât enough to eat or drink, and people were frightened that enemy submarines were in the water.
In total, 1066 women and 900 children were evacuated from Darwin by sea. Many of them lost their fathers and husbands in the bombings, and some werenât able to return until six years later. They came back to find that Darwin was a very different place to the one they had left.
Building Trenches
These children are building a trench to shelter in during an air raid. If bombs were being dropped, hiding under ground level would protect people from all the flying debris caused by the blasts.
T he man who called out to her was standing in the shadows so Pearlie couldnât see who it was.
âPearlie,â the man said again. Thatâs when he stepped out into the light.
He had bright blue eyes that pierced her like daggers. His skin was pale and he wore a small, ginger-coloured moustache. And dangling from his bony fingers was her bracelet.
âIt canât be you,â she breathed. âIt canâtâ¯.â¯.â¯.â
âSo, you
are
the real Pearlie,â Beake said, walking towards her. âLittle girls shouldnât lie to grownups, you know. Thatâs when they get punished.â
Pearlie gasped. She wanted to run but it was as if her dress was made out of lead, her body felt so heavy. She couldnât go to Old Man Lizard and ask him for help. Not now, she thought. Heâs not strong enough to fight Beake. And I canât lead him to my darling animals. I have to lead him away. She told her legs to move and at last they obeyed.
Pearlie fled in the opposite direction, away from the hut, away from town and from safety.
âCome back, you little wretch!â she heard Beake yell.
Pearlie darted through the bush, one hand on Tintoâs pouch, making it even harder to run.
Behind her came the sound of Beakeâs shoes pounding the ground. With each step he seemed to be getting closer and closer. Pearlie was small, her legs were short and sheâd run such a long way already. Iâll never be able to outrun him, she thought.
Hereâs a sneak peek at Meet Grace
I T must be the longest day this winter, Grace thought, and all Iâve found are a few bits of coal and a piece of rope.
Grace waded towards the riverbank, wiggling her toes into the mud, feeling for anything that had washed in with the tide or fallen from a boat or barge to put in her kettle. That was her job as a mudlark â to search the bottom of the Thames for things to sell. She shivered.
A dirty fog hung over the water, draping everything in grey. The other mudlarks looked like shadows as they waded through the river. Grace felt the water cold against her legs â the tide was on its way in and her dress floated around
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