June Rose's interview in Newcastle

June Rose discusses her Uncles’ Bill and Joe’s World War 2 service, and in particular their repatriation. Bill was with the Military Police, and both served in the Middle East. At one point, Joe returned to his family home to attend his mother’s funeral, and Bill was tasked with bringing him back to the Army after the funeral. Upon return from the war, Bill suffered from serious mental health issues that appeared clearly linked to his war experience - he drank heavily and was alienated from the community and his family as a result, and June believes that neither he nor the family received any support from the authorities to deal with this situation, she also recalls that neither uncle was allowed into the pub to drink despite their service.

This interview took place on 11 March 2014 in Newcastle and was conducted by Professor Mick Dodson and Professor John Maynard with Craig Greene and June’s daughter Amanda Kelly, as part of the Australian Research Council-funded research project Serving our Country: a history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the defence of Australia.

The interview recording above is made available to be viewed here by permission of the interviewee(s), June Rose. The recording may not be copied, reproduced or communicated in whole or in part without the prior permission of the interviewee(s). Requests for permission for use of this material should be made to the Serving our Country research project: our contact details.

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Updated:  16 July 2015/Responsible Officer:  Director, Serving our Country/Page Contact:  CAP Web Team